Till Death do us Part
by dixontastic
Summary: Starts from Season 3 of TWD [story will continue on to season 4]- ALL CARYL! Twist: What if Shane had never died and he is with the group while at the prison? Daryl and Carol will test their limits by seeing how far they will go while finding themselves along with recognizing their true love for each other. M for language, violence, and inevitable smut later on.
1. Chapter 1

Running. Always running. Running from the past or from the people—or undead—chasing them, they didn't know. All Daryl knew is that for these past few harsh months on the road, close to starvation, lack of sleep, and lack of hygiene, he was getting ready to kill Shane. The prick did nothing to help except making rash calls and openly favor Lori and Carl in front of Rick. Glen and Maggie were okay, although it was bothersome whenever they would sneak off alone the first moment they got together and forget about the group. Herschel and Beth were alright too, helpful when need be, and Beth was all gung-ho about Lori's baby coming into the world. It was a miracle that Rick and Shane were still living in the same room together, if anybody had knocked up Daryl's woman and then go from lying to boasting about it, to claiming that he couldn't take care of his own, well, there would be nothing left of the man even as a walker. Daryl was an observer, he noticed the way Rick carefully watched Shane whenever Shane got too close to Lori, or how Rick would flinch at the slightest touch between the two, or when Shane would offer Lori his own food before Rick had a chance to. However, Daryl also noticed that Lori seemed to have silently sided with Rick since the farm, and therefore chose Rick over Shane, causing Shane to become even more paranoid than ever. After the whole Randal thing, Daryl overheard Rick and Shane talking about what happened that night when they thought everyone was asleep, and how it would change their relationship forever. Apparently Shane had chickened out and confessed to Rick what he did but that in the end, he couldn't end his life until he knew his child would be safe in the world and that the woman he loved would always be taken care of. Though Daryl didn't see the sense in this, Rick somehow found it logical and let Shane live.

T-Dog was good company too, although he was beginning to notice the way that T was looking at Carol, causing Daryl to unconsciously be in every room with them when they were together. Carol. Since failing to find Sophia, Daryl has dreamt of Carol about every night, any other night would be nightmares from his childhood or about Merle. Daryl loved to simply watch Carol; she was soft and delicate, but she had this certain edge to her, she was becoming strong. A survivor. But for some reason, whenever another member of the group would make Carol laugh, an odd feeling came up. Jealously? Daryl didn't exactly know because he's never had anything to be jealous over so he couldn't compare. But as the months drew on, Daryl didn't believe that his relationship with Carol could get any stronger. They were best friends in every sense of the world and it soon hit Daryl like a ton of bricks that he would do _anything _to ensure Carol's safety and happiness and as bad as it may sound, he would choose her above anyone. Daryl soon became the not-so-silent protector around Carol, simply enjoying being in her company and listening to her past or anything that she had to say really, he also made sure that nothing would bother Carol in any negative way at all. And now, as much as Daryl hates to admit it, he is beginning to notice the way that Shane is looking at Carol. Maybe it's because Daryl is beginning to see her in a new light and the other men are beginning to notice her too, but he soon realized that he hated the way that Shane would look at Carol. As if he were a panther, sizing up his prey, or checking out a mate he wants to impress. It seems that Shane got the hint that Lori chose Rick over him because even though he's providing for his kin, he was beginning to look at Carol like he _wanted _her. Daryl soon realized that he hated Shane. And after he and Rick got back, telling everyone about the prison, nobody could have missed Shane's loud statement to Carol, causing Daryl's blood begin to boil.

"Sounds like fun, right Carol? Stick with me, I'll make sure you don't have to get dirty. I'll keep you safe," Shane stated after playfully placing his hands on her side. After watching this, Daryl realized that it was easier to keep your distance from Shane because they were always on the road and if the weather wasn't too bad he made sure Carol rode with him, but the way that he held onto Carol's side, for however brief it was, and after declaring that out of everyone, he could keep her safe; Daryl realized that being in a small prison trapped with Shane may actually cause Shane his death.

Before Daryl knew where his legs were taking him, he was getting closer to Carol and even closer to Shane. With his puffed out chest, Daryl brushed by Shane and although he was glaring directly at Shane, he was speaking to both Shane and Carol.  
"Like how you kept Otis safe? Nah, Carol stay with me. Come on, we better get moving while we still have light." If looks could kill, both Shane and Daryl would have been dead with the way they were looking at each other. Before either could say anything else, Lori intervened.  
"Alright boys, we had our break now it's time to go," Lori said softly while placing a hand on Shane's chest and glancing at the people already packing the cars getting ready to leave, and to Rick who was looking on from by the driver's side of the door. After glancing at both Lori and Carol, Shane gave one last glare to Daryl and then started for his truck he usually shared with T-Dog at the back of the pack. Carol started for the truck with Rick, Lori and Carl until she was stopped with Daryl's hand closing around her wrist, his thumb lightly rubbing her pulse.

"Ride with me," Daryl asked. Carol loved this man, from the moment he began to look for her daughter and look out for her; she knew that she could find no better human being. His steel blue eyes had a hopeful look as he looked her over and there was something else hidden there, _desperate_ almost?

"Always Daryl," Carol simply replied back with a smile, causing Daryl to give her a half smirk of his own and a nod of his head. As gently as he grabbed her wrist, he let go, now headed towards the bike. No other words needed to be said between the two, Daryl had Carol on the back of his bike and they were headed off to a new danger, although they were all desperately praying that the prison would act as a home for at least a while.


	2. Chapter 2

Daryl stood guard in front of Carol, facing any nearby walkers while Rick was cutting a hole through the fence so that the group can enter the prison. The group took their very own synchronized formation, keeping the vulnerable members on the inside. Leaving Lori's side, but still staying close enough to Carl, Daryl watched as Shane edged closer to Carol to stay on her other side. Growling to Shane, Daryl helped push Carol inside the safe confines that the fences had to offer. Once everyone made it inside, they made a beeline for the entry way that led to the prison yard.

"Alright," Rick began in his never-ending authoritative voice. "If we can clear the yard and secure the fence on the other side, we can have this field by tonight. We can kill these walkers. I'll get the gate-"

"I'll do it Rick," Glen stated matter-of-factly.

"No, suicide run," Maggie countered.

"I'm the fastest," retorted Glen.

Rick was getting impatient and didn't let the couple's fighting continue. "You two help the others clear the walkers near the fence. I'll run for the gate."

Despite Shane's recent interest in Carol, Daryl was still happy with the fact that was common knowledge that Carol stay with him.  
"You'll be great Carol, see ya when it's over! How 'bout we try to see who can shoot more of these bastards?" Shane said to Carol while casually throwing his arm over Carol's shoulders and tugging at her a bit, laughing obnoxiously at joke that wasn't even funny in Daryl's opinion. Carol just smiled bashfully and said, "You're on."

"Come on," Daryl said to Carol, unconsciously putting his hand on her back to guide her to the tower, and more importantly, away from Shane; glaring at Shane while doing so. But as soon as his hand was placed he removed it. _Where did that come on? _Daryl berated himself; he had never shown any form of physical affection towards Carol. Sure, he knew that he would always be her protector and best friend until he died, but he was beginning to feel his protective level rise with Shane always around her looking for an ear rub like helpless dog. Daryl couldn't help but wonder if he should pull Carol away from Shane. Daryl's family was trash, and he therefore thought himself as trash. He'd never be good enough for Carol, never smart enough, or funny enough; hell, half the time he thought about how fragile she was, he was just plain scared to hurt her—both physically and emotionally. No. It didn't matter if he wasn't good enough. Shane was an unstable scum bag and he would continue to keep him away from Carol.

"Hey! Were you even listening to me boo," Carol jokingly asked while they made it to the top of the tower. Daryl had been so lost in his thoughts, he honestly hadn't been listening. Just making sure that there were no walkers on their way to tower and making sure everything was secure and ready for Carol. Ignoring the "boo" comment, Daryl asked with a blush. "Sorry. Wha'd ya say?" Daryl asked lamely. Carol just giggled and Daryl couldn't help but smile at her cute laugh. _Where in the hell did that come from?! Get it together; we're here to kill off walkers! _ "I wanted to know if you think we'd be able to stay here. Or maybe if anyone is already living inside the prison and the walkers outside are just there for show…" Carol trailed off. It was obvious that she's been thinking about this and she was worried. Worried for group no doubt, Carol was always concerned for others and Daryl couldn't help but feel drawn to her affection, she also raised some good points.

"Guess we'll find out. So long as Shane keeps running that mouth of his, if anyone is there they'll run away." Daryl joked back, noticing that Carol smiled but looked down, still waiting for Rick to run across the field and arguing with Shane about something yet again. Daryl didn't like that concerned look on her face. "Carol, whatever it is, we can face and take care of." Their eyes met and Carol gave a half smile, yet her brow was still creased. Feeling bold, Daryl took one step closer to her and gave her back her gun, satisfied that it's more than functional. "I'll protect ya from anything that that prison has." Placing the gun in her hand, their fingers brushed over each other and this time, Daryl didn't jerk away. He wanted her know that he was serious about her protection. Her worry seemed to vanish and Daryl was happy for it.

"I know you will Daryl. Alright, I am more than willing to take Shane up on his little offer," Carol said.

"Ya, me too," Daryl replied back with an evil little smirk causing Carol to look at him questionably. "Let's see the kind of smack he can say to you, when I have all of his kills."

"He did it!" Carol happily exclaimed. Finishing off Shane's latest eyeballed victim, Daryl looked over to find Rick in the guard tower, finished off the rest of dead geeks. "Line it up!" Daryl yelled to the group. If Daryl thought he was having fun before, he was really enjoying himself now. Watching Shane down below at the fence line, Daryl made sure to shoot any walker within his range. Eventually the ex-cop caught on, twenty shots later, and traced the arrows through the assholes' heads to the laughing hunter in the guard tower. Shane glared at Daryl and gave him the finger, which only made Daryl laugh even harder and took out the very last walker which was nearing Shane's side of the fence, but he was too busy flipping off Daryl. Satisfied that the area was secure, Daryl glanced over to Carol, seeing a triumphant look on her face.

"Aye, let's head on down," Daryl lightly said to Carol, placing a hand on her back yet again to guide her to the door. This time, Daryl didn't pull away; partly because he liked having his hand on her back and feeling her muscles move every time she took a step, and partly because he knew that Shane could see them from down below.

Once they reached the field below, everyone was ecstatic that they had so much space to stay on for the night. Even Carl was acting like a kid again and would run to the top of the little hill then roll down it, all encouraged by Shane of course. It was agreed that they secure everything, take turns taking watch, and stay the night on the open field. Glen began to create a fire so that they could eat some of the squirrels that Daryl caught earlier in the day. Daryl kept silent vigil over Carol, trailing along behind her to see where she was going to bed down for the night. Shane was already sitting on his pack next to Carl, who sitting next to Lori, but Daryl noticed—or maybe it was just his late paranoid mind—that T-Dog was walking towards Carol. Without noticing anything that Daryl was observing, she put her things next to Maggie and Daryl immediately claimed his spot next to her. Looking over his shoulder, he saw T-Dog stop shortly and put his things down where they were. _That's right, T. Give me a break, I already have to watch Shane's ass. _

Keeping guard was not something that Daryl overly enjoyed to do; but it was quite, and he was usually alone, so it gave him time to think. And now, Daryl felt like he needed to think over his latest convoluting feelings towards Carol. The woman was always on his mind, always his center point of the day. She didn't have to even ask for it, Daryl has always felt drawn to her and with her, he feels happy and lighter. Glancing back at the group, specifically Carol, to the walkers outside of the fence he realized that lately he's felt that he needed to be with her—which is not something that he has felt very often in life. Needing someone is scary enough without adding the end-of-the-world apocalypse to the mix, along with dead assholes that want to eat you all the time. Though he's a plain guy and not really one for affection, he tries to be for Carol.

"Brought ya some food," Carol called down from below. Snapping out of his thoughts, yet again, Daryl looked down to see Carol climbing up the bus with a tin tray of food in her hand. Daryl immediately shouldered his crossbow and helped Carol up the bus, making sure that she was stable atop it, he finally reached down to get his food last.

"It's not much. But if I don't bring you something, you won't eat at all," Carol softly told Daryl.

"Yeah, guess little Shane over there gots quite the appetite," Daryl replied through a mouth full of food.

"Don't be mean," Carol softly chastised him while rubbing her shoulder in slight irritation.

"What's wrong?"

"My shoulder. Must be the kickback." Without even thinking about it, Daryl motioned for Carol to come close to him while sucking off the remains of the squirrel juice.

"Hang on," Daryl said. He then reached over and positioned Carol's back towards him and methodically worked her back. He could feel the hard tense balls of muscle under his hands and he wondered what else of Carol's was so fit and tight. _No. I could never take advantage or hurt Carol. _Carol smiled and turned around to face Daryl, eye contact being made, and Daryl's random yet more frequent thoughts of Carol began to vanish. Ending the massage all too shortly on both their parts, Daryl sucked at his teeth.

"Better head back."

"It's pretty romantic, wanna screw around?" Carol asked with her own little smirk while having her lips perked out. _Screw around?! _Daryl's heart briefly stopped and then after realizing he had a blank look on his face, he just scoffed. Causing the both of them to laugh, but Daryl was really at a loss for words.

"I'll go down first," Daryl said.

"Even better!"

"Stop," Daryl said while silently thanking God that it was night so that Carol couldn't see his probably crimson face. After climbing down from the bus, Daryl lightly placed his hands on Carol's sides, making sure that she wouldn't fall while climbing down the bus.

"Such a gentleman," Carol squeaked out happily.

"Yep, that's me. Jus' don't go telling nobody because my services are reserved." After saying it, Daryl thought it was a pretty lame way to try to somewhat flirt back but at least he earned a smile from it. After reaching their little bed area, Rick told the group that they would have to go in, hand to hand, and clear out the inside of the prison. Grudgingly, everyone agreed and called it a night. As soon as Daryl lay down by Carol, after meeting Shane's watchful glare, Carol turned to face him.

"Daryl?" Carol asked in a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Be safe tomorrow…and I was thinking, I don't want you to get hurt by going out of the way to protect me." Daryl was a little taken aback by this and didn't know how to respond. Luckily for him, Carol still had more that was on her mind.  
"But if there are live people in there, and they'll try to hurt the group…or me… you promise to protect me?" Carol tentatively asked. It was clear then to Daryl that Carol was still afraid of others outside of the group and he didn't blame her. She was still afraid because she knew that people could turn into monsters, and as much as Daryl didn't like it, she probably still a little afraid of trusting him. Ed still haunted her and she needed reassurance that she was taken cared for and not getting hurt by someone that she trusts. Daryl turned his head to completely face Carol now; she was curled up on her side, closest to the fire but both of their sleeping bags were touching and the end sides of them were overlapping each other.

"Always Carol," Daryl softly yet firmly, repeating her words from earlier that day. Carol looked exhausted yet happy.

"Sweet dreams Daryl," Carol said, edging a little closer to him but still giving him his space.

"'Night, Carol," Daryl sleepily responded back. Both of their last thoughts about each other.


	3. Chapter 3

Carol woke up way hotter compared to how it was when she fell asleep, feeling the sun burn through her eyelids and reaching her eyes, she knew it was time to face yet another grueling day. Rolling over on her side, she realized she ended up on Daryl's sleeping bag, only no Daryl was there. Sighing, and popping her joints as she began to sit up, she was greeted with a face that she didn't want to see first thing in the morning.

"Morning sleepy head," Shane loudly and all too happily said. "We 'bout ready to go in there and get our hands dirty. Some breakfast has been set aside for you and –" Shane abruptly stopped and glanced down. Both he and Carol realized that Daryl's poncho was tucked around Carol's body. She didn't remember this act being done but it did make her feel warmer then she already was.

"… and, how 'bout you send me a sweet little send off before I go in that probably packed prison, huh?" Shane finished.

Carol glanced around and could see that she truly was the only who had slept in. _Why did nobody wake her?! Today was a big day!_ She saw Lori hand Carl a crow bar, and the men, along with Maggie were double checking all of their weapons and rehearsing their plan of attack. Looking over, she saw Daryl looking over Rick's shoulder at her and Shane talking. Carol couldn't quite place that look on his face but he looked nervous, suspicious maybe? He was glaring holes into Shane's back which made Carol smile while also wondering if Shane could feel his hard stares.

"Carol?" Shane impatiently asked while she was looking at Daryl.

"Uh, oh yes, 'morning Shane. When is everyone going inside?" Carol asked while refusing Shane's help to get her up. Once standing, she began to walk over to what little breakfast there was, not particularly caring if Shane answered her or not. It wasn't that Carol completely disliked Shane, but she couldn't forget his attitude towards her lost daughter and she wondered what is was that happened these past few months on the road that made him notice her more than usual. Carol forgave Shane for all the wrong he's done, but it didn't mean that she could forget it either; also, she mainly forgave him for her own sake. Since she was already late for things, Carol quickly scoffed down her breakfast, suddenly feeling a hand clamp over her arm while simultaneously feeling _his_ eyes shift their attention to her. She always felt Daryl's eyes on her, but it was comfort that she had never known before. It wasn't controlling or manipulative like Ed's stare was, it was curious and protective, and it just made Carol love her best friend more.

"Carol, you don't have to eat so fast. We'll be doin' most o' the work anyway. You just gotta stand on the other side of the fence and look pretty—but not too pretty so I don't get distracted," It was then that Carol realized that Shane was shamelessly flirting. He had a cocky smile and his chest was puffed out, probably to show off his all too buff figure. Carol glanced over at Lori and saw her looking. Carol came to the realization that Shane was feeling lonely and probably wanted to make Lori jealous. Carol suddenly became disgusted by Shane's approach. Though she never liked the man, a little attention was undeniably nice for a woman; but now she just felt like a chunk of meat. Typical Shane style, knowing no other approach to any woman.

"Shane," Daryl's rough voice came up from behind Carol, and she turned to silently thank him although he was sending daggers with his eyes to Shane.

"Get your ass movin', Rick needs to talk to ya real quick before we head on in." Daryl said, watching Shane cast one last smirk towards Carol then headed to Rick near the entrance fence.

"Why didn't you wake me this morning," Carol asked, she wasn't mad at Daryl but she wanted to make sure she was doing part for the group.

"I was jus' about to if ya were still sleepin' in. 'Sides, doesn't matter no way, you needed the sleep and you're up now," Daryl calmly replied back. Carol was transfixed to his steel blue eyes as they squinted down to her. Daryl glanced down at her hands, saw her empty plate of food, handed her her crow bar then began to walk towards the fence.

"Oh Daryl," Carol suddenly said causing Daryl to quickly turn around. "Thank you for the poncho. I was very warm." _A little too warm but the gesture was sweet nonetheless. _

"Yeah," was all that Daryl grunted back before retreating to the fences to get ready. The man would forever be an enigma to Carol and she couldn't help but love the roller coaster ride that she was constantly on with him.

Carol stood by Lori, watching as the stronger members of their group cleared out the prison yard and continued on into the prison cell. Everyone went back to their sleeping area to pack up their belongings, having complete faith that they would able to clear out the cells.

"So, what's going on with you and Shane?" Lori sharply asked Carol. Carol was in no mood for bullshit this morning, everything hurt. She had a nightmare about Sophia, she was hungry, tired, aching, she couldn't even smell her own odor without wanting to gag, and now she was feeling partly attacked as her supposedly friend was instigating problems.

"Nothing is going on between us Lori. It's probably because the only time you give Rick attention is when Shane is near you. What's going on between your two men? I thought you've chosen, and if not, you need to, because that baby is just about ready to pop out." Without waiting for any snarky remarks, Carol bent down to pick up her belongings and began to fold Daryl's poncho. It was a burning hot day in Georgia and this very simple act caused her to begin to sweat profusely.

"I chose my husband," Lori said silently while sitting down next to Carol and helping her pack up her belongings.

"Then act like you've chosen him because he's your husband and not just somebody that you're stuck with." Carol lightly responded back. She did not want to argue with Lori and she definitely did not even have strength to fight back, but she was feeling accused of something that hasn't happened between her and Shane and she had enough strength to defend herself on that.

"When did Carol get so tough? Been hanging around Dixon way too much," Lori laughed while Carol helped Lori get to her feet so that she wouldn't fall on her very pregnant belly.

"He's good for you Carol," Lori said in an honest tone. But Carol was already feeling a little paranoid, perhaps she just needed a decent night's sleep, but she couldn't help but feel that Lori was pushing Carol to Daryl so that that drew attention away from Shane.

"If only I could get so lucky," Carol said with a smirk, ignoring her latest ill thoughts and she walked away to help the others organize things; officially ending the conversation with Lori.

* * *

After Glen had gathered the remaining group outside, they all walked in with amazement. Sure, they were staying in a prison in the state of Georgia, but it was spacious, hard walls which would protect them, it was cleared out, there were multiple cells so that they didn't have to be all over each other and they had actual beds with actual mattresses, they had bathrooms, showers, windows which provided light and darkness; in summary, Carol was completely overwhelmed.

"It's secure," Lori tentatively asked; ruining Carol's dumfounded happiness. Before Rick could answer her, Shane spoke up, "Well come on now, 'course it is Lori. Ain't nothin' is gonna happen to nobody. We sleep in the cells."

"I ain't sleepin' in no cage. I'll take the perch," Daryl claimed. Carol couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that she would no longer be sleeping near him after all these months on the road, but she understood his reasoning.

"Come on," Lori ushered to Carol; leaving her only son to stay with his father and not his mother. As they ascended the stairs, Carol pulled out Daryl's poncho and placed it on his lap, lightly placing her hand on his shoulder as she walked past him. Daryl didn't react or jerk away like he normally would and that made Carol happy. Although it was most likely to be noon, the group was exhausted and they all settled down in their claimed cells to catch some decent hours of sleep.

* * *

Carol awoke to light tapping on her cell door. She sprung up on the top bunk and reached under her pillow to retrieve the knife that she had there, dropping it when she realized that it was Daryl who was poking his head in.

"Oh sorry," Carol lightly said while mixing a laugh with a yawn.

"It's alright, nice seeing ya having your guard up. Just don't go throwing your knives blindly otherwise we gonna have a bit of a problem," Daryl lightly responded back while helping Carol down from her top bunk than sitting down in a nearby chair. Curious to what he was doing, Carol glanced down to notice that Lori wasn't in her bunk.

"Everyone is already up. Figured I outta wake ya before ya bite my head off," Daryl said while looking down at his boots.

"What time is it," Carol asked lightly while playfully swatting at Daryl's arm.

"'Bout three? Everyone is feeling kinda restless so Rick wants to go on ahead, and dig deeper. See if we can find some food before we end up starving to death… nice nap though," Daryl said while biting at his thumb nail.

"Anything I can do," Carol asked although she already knew the answer when Daryl just raised her head and gave her that "really" look, which she found to be adorable.

"Yep! Just stay here and look pretty," although Carol knew he was just mocking Shane from earlier, she couldn't help but blush at his recent bold actions and a laugh erupted from her without even realizing it, causing Daryl to give a light laugh in response.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure if everything was alright? I heard Lori running her mouth to Shane and asking 'bout ya earlier to him," Daryl said to Carol, which caused a groan from him. Carol sat down opposite of Daryl on Lori's bed and looked down at her hands which were between her knees.

"I think Lori is just feeling a little lonely, she's probably nervous about the baby almost being here. I honestly don't really know where she's going with that, but I'm not bothered by it," Carol finished.

"Alright, just checkin'. Should probably head on down, the more we find out 'bout this place the better. And you could use some more meat on your bones," Daryl said with a half smirk before leaving her cell, followed by Carol closely behind him.

"Sleeping beauty is finally up to give me my proper send off," A happy Shane exclaimed.

"You've only been up no more than half an hour, dumbass," Daryl grumbled to Shane before pushing past him to retrieve his crossbow. Carol said nothing but smiled at Daryl's remark while she stayed on the last step of the stair well and threw her arm around Beth's shoulders. The young girl made her think of what Sophia could've been like at her age, soft and gentle, yet determined and helpful. Shane grumbled as he turned to follow Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Glen, and Maggie to the dark unknown void that the walker-filled prison had to offer. 

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews already! This is my first every TWD fanfic (Well fanfic in general) but I absolutely love TWD- specifically CARYL and I've had this idea bouncing around my head for a while. I hope to do this story justice! I have a general direction with where I want this story to go, but it is definitely going to be a long story. I find that I absolutely love short powerful CARYL fanfics, but I always want to read more! And I plan on taking this throughout season 4- I may do some time gaps but I really enjoy a slow build and I don't want to rush into anything too quickly in case it ruins anything. Okay, thank you again and keep the reviews coming! Give me helpful critiques or if you have any ideas that you would like to see play out. I should have another chapter or two by tonight! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**OK, I promised two chapters, but only got one done, please done kill me! This chapter is nearly 3,000 words so I hope it holds you over. Review me to let me know what you think! I would like to thank my readers, followers, and especially those who have taken the time to review my work thus far. It really means a lot for a newbie and I've found that the reviews have surprisingly made my day a happy one! :)**

* * *

"Man, anybody else notice how sassy Carol's been getting' lately?" Shane asked loudly and obnoxiously to anyone who would listen. T-Dog was the only one who made any kind of laugh, while everyone else was completely engulfed in the search to clear out the remaining side of the prison and to eliminate any remaining threat.

"Man shut the hell up and keep ya mind off of her," Daryl snarled to Shane. Daryl had a hard enough time keeping Carol off his mind, but having Shane openly speak about his attraction towards Carol made his blood begin to boil. He got it, Shane was male and Carol, female. She was beautiful inside and out but Daryl was not going to stand here and have Shane talk about Carol however he liked.

"What's your problem there Dixon—" Shane started to retort back but cut off by Rick.

"Hey! Cut it out, let's just clear this cell block then get back with food and supplies," Rick impatiently said trying to keep quite. Maggie shot an annoyed look at Shane while T-Dog kept quite in the back of the pack along with a now annoyed Shane. Glen was walking ahead with Rick, periodically drawing arrows on the cell walls so that everyone knew which direction they were headed in. Daryl's irritation with Shane got abruptly caught off when a pack of walkers greeted them around the corner.

"Get back!" Rick bellowed to the group. They all tried to keep in formation as they followed the arrows which led them to the safer and already cleared out part of the prison. However, when they rounded the corner, more zombies were there to greet them. Daryl took down the closest one to them, unfortunately having to sacrifice his arrow. Turning over his shoulder he saw T-Dog breaking chains on a door and bursting through it. They all piled in and made sure to secure the door, everyone was panting, frantic, checking themselves and each other to make sure that nobody got hurt during their escape.

"Holy shit…more survivors?" A scrawny man with a thick crow bar mustache said behind a gate that separated his group from four other men. Daryl was the first to react, pointing his crossbow at the inmates while the rest of the group stood in formation ready to meet the new comers.

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl gruffly asked, noticing a Spanish man walk forward with a small revolver in hand. These men didn't appear to look like a complete threat but looks can be deceiving; Daryl was keeping his eye on the only man with the only real potentially harmful weapon at hand. The largest member of the group of inmates spoke first.

"Whoa man, we ain't looking for any trouble," he said while glancing a nervous eye at Daryl's raised crossbow to Rick's hand resting on his python. "My name is Big Tiny, this Oscar, Thomas, Axel, and Andrew. We been locked up in here since guards of the prison shoved us in here and locked us in... It's just been us, we don't know what's goin' on. But we been living off of food that we have stored— "

"Man shut up!" Thomas suddenly exclaimed. "We don't know nohin' bout these people."

"Yeah, don't look like no rescue team," Who Daryl believed was Axel, said.

"If a rescue team is what you're looking for, then don't", Rick said.

"You guys have food? Have much?" A very curious Glen questioned.

"What's it to ya?" Thomas snarled back, gripping his gun all the tighter.

"Look," Rick said stepping forward. "We just cleared out part of the prison, and now we're fixing to clear out the rest. How 'bout a compromise? You give us some rations of food, and we'll help clear out another cell block for you guys to live in. But we draw a line, nobody passes each other's side of the prison otherwise there's gonna be problems."

"Man who do you think you are? Just coming into my prison and demanding shit?! Why you guys burst in here anyway? What's going on? Where are the guards that locked us up? We free now? Something happen in the big ole government? Makes me think that you're bursting in a prison, there ain't no place to go," Thomas frantically asked the group.

"You really have no idea what's been going on?" Glen asked in disbelief. As Shane and Rick began to tell about how the world went to hell, Daryl began to walk around the room to get a feel with who they were messing with. When he reached the kitchen area, his felt his jaw hit the floor. There was more food stocked up in their food closet than had ever seen in his entire life. The group needed this, Carol needed this, hell he needed this! This prison was a big win, and Daryl suddenly got an image of how proud Carol would look when she saw him walking around their prison block with bags of food in his arms, and that just made his heart swell a bit; Carol knowing that he could provide for her made him feel—_Ugh man up Daryl! Makes my heart swell?! What. The. Hell. Is. Happening. To. Me? _At this point, Daryl was beginning to wonder if thinking about his best friend this much was even healthy. Almost every thought he had was centered on her, he desired her approval and affection. _Shit. Now who sounds like a helpless puppy wanting a scratch behind the ear? _ Merle would call him a pussy, so far gone and nothing physical has even happened between him and Carol. _Fuck Merle. _Daryl would never even think about jeopardizing what he had with Carol and not everything had to be about sex. Shit, Daryl could barely massage the woman's shoulder without his thoughts drifting off, causing tightness in his pants. He felt like an immature teenager at times which made him scared to death that if and he and Carol did anything even slightly romantic; he would most likely fuck it up.

"Hey, what'd you find," Rick whispered to Daryl as he made it back to the group; efficiently snapping Daryl's thoughts away from Carol, for the time being. Shane was finishing up explaining his tale of how the world is what it is.

"Man, they're loaded. We need this. If we ration it right, we could live off of it for months," Daryl replied while watching Thomas, as he was watching Daryl.

"Alright," Rick said, cutting off Shane's story and not allowing the inmates to speak. "You know what kind of world we live in. You can stay, and we'll help, but we want half of your rations. Or you can leave and pack up as much as you can carry. But we fought for this prison, cleared it out, and nearly killed ourselves. We're not leaving. Do we have an agreement?" The inmates looked at a loss for words, which Daryl understood considering they didn't really give the poor bastards a lot of time to process everything. They nervously looked around each other, not really sure who should speak or what their decision should be.

"Uh, give us a damn minute," Thomas snarled to Rick while turning to his fellow inmates.

"Rick, are you sure about having them living near us?" Maggie asked in concern, while Glen put his arm around her middle. "We don't know anything about them, and, it's weird to suddenly have other people living around us."

"We cut them loose, we're practically killing them ourselves. They ain't got no weapons, we're not gonna spare 'em either. I don't want nobody's blood on my hands," T-Dog piped up.

"We cut them loose, they know where we are. Could sneak up on us, maybe we should just kill 'em…" Shane suggested causing Daryl to give him a sideways glance.

"Kill them Shane? That's your solution to any problem, huh?" Rick scoffed in disbelief at his long-lost best friend that he was, for some reason, still holding on to. Daryl could see the tension begin to rise and he knew that this was somehow going to go back to their boastings about who a better father is and who Lori belongs to.

"Aye, why are ya'll locked up in here anyway?" Daryl loudly asked to the inmates.

"I like my narcotics…" Axel lamely said, and with his mustache, Daryl believed him.

"I had a lot of fines I had to pay, but never had the money to. Didn't know I could get locked up for it," Big Tiny stated.

"Drug possession, distribution, and robbery," Oscar said, he didn't look like he regretted anything or was trying to get out of any situation.

"I murdered some asshole who nearly killed me," Andrew stated. Everyone from the group tensed up. Finally looking at Thomas.

"Well uh, we're men right? I like me some damn fine pussy; only thing is, they don't always like me, but I get what I want anyway," Thomas said all too nonchalantly. Everybody was now glaring at the man, Daryl decided right there and then that he wanted this man dead. He'd gladly put a bolt through his head right now. If he so much as looked at Carol or the other women hard, Daryl would slowly skin the man alive. Slowly cutting off each limb, making him immobile, and followed by slowly slicing off his worthless balls, then burning them off. Daryl could barely think right now; if this man even got _close_ to Carol…Daryl was having a hard time to process this monster in front of him let alone breathe.

"Well, we take ya up on your offer farm boy." Thomas finished with a smile which was directed at Rick. Daryl's head snapped to Rick's so fast he heard his bones crack with surprise.

"Rick…" Shane said with a tentative warning. Glen pushed Maggie behind him while glaring at Thomas, while T-Dog came over to block anything that was showing of Maggie. Daryl was in complete disbelief, why didn't he think to ask this first? Why didn't any of them? Daryl would forever hate himself if the situation turned south… he swore to protect Carol, not make a bed next door for a murderer and some damn fucking rapist. There was no way that they could let these two threats live, but then again, they needed the supplies and food and they couldn't exactly just revoke their offer that they basically demanded. Rick seemed to think along the same lines of Daryl.

"Okay. We help you clear out another cell block and you stick to it," Rick snarled while stepping close to Thomas—who seemed to be the leader of the pack. "But you come to our side, if I so much as get a whiff of you near my people, I will kill you where you stand." Daryl still wasn't completely relaxed with this compromise, but shit if his people needed food to survive and the game in the woods was becoming scarce. Thomas, however, was not backing down.

"Deal."

* * *

After clearing out the cell block with the inmates, keeping them ahead of them at all times, got things settled for them in cell block D, then returning to retrieve their share of the food and then bring it back to the group, they were all exhausted. It was decided that Rick would gather everyone immediately and tell them about the situation.

* * *

"We have a bit of a problem…" Rick began. Daryl gravitated towards Carol's side; wanting her to know that he was there with her while Rick told them all. Daryl also noticed that Shane had his hand on Lori's shoulder—whatever game he was playing needed to end, if stupid ass Shane knew any better, he should just keep sticking his nose up Lori's ass. Carol gasped and covered her mouth when Rick told them all about their defenses, specifically Thomas's. Daryl couldn't help but lightly place his right arm around Carol's middle—mirroring Glen's actions from earlier—and drawing her in a little closer to him while tightly gripping his crossbow's strap with his left hand. He vowed to protect Carol and to not let her down, again, and he planned on fulfilling that promise. Looking around, he could see that everyone was close to each other, all scared about the threat, yet confident that they could handle the situation if it ever escalated into anything. Daryl would make damn sure that the situation would be handled. After Rick told them of what happened, everyone seemed to disperse a bit. Maggie went to nap, while Glen, Shane, and Rick wanted to make sure that the fortifications were secure. Daryl decided to hang back on this one; after taking night watch then basically clearing out the yard and half of a prison in one day left him utterly spent. He also wanted to stick around for Carol, if he could offer her any reassuring support; he would—even though he had no idea what he was doing. Carol, Beth, and Herschel went to go start cooking while T-Dog began to unpack their latest food and sort through it. Daryl decided to hang around a bit in the dining area, and then take a nap himself.

* * *

"What do you think…about them…" Beth timidly asked Carol and Herschel, although Daryl was just sitting atop a table watching Carol like a hawk. He didn't think he did it in a possessive manner, and he sure as shit hoped that he didn't come off as being creepy; he just simply liked to watch her, watch and study her fluid movements so that he could take the images with him when he went hunting or hopefully carry them on in his dreams. _Shit. I am going soft…_

"We don't know Bethie. Some of them sound dangerous, but we can't condemn the rest of them for the two," Herschel softly said, of course, everyone was mainly worried about Thomas and Andrew.

"Don't worry dear, nothing will happen to you," Carol softly said to Beth, giving her a reassuring smile as the two cooked. Daryl decided to call it a day as he headed for his waiting makeshift bed. He gave Carol a nod and Herschel a pat on the back as he headed towards the stairs, leaving the rest behind in the dining area.

Their dinner was almost done; everyone was completely engulfed in their tasks that they didn't bother looking up as they heard the entrance cell door which led to the court yard open—assuming that it was T-Dog coming back with more food or one of the guys coming back from their perimeter check.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? I didn't know your group had ladies in it..." Thomas trailed off as he eyed Carol and Beth up and down like they were a starving man's last meal; Andrew was behind Thomas, only carrying a baseball bat. Both Carol and Beth gasped as Carol pushed Beth behind her while simultaneously reaching for her hand gun.

"Young man," Herschel yelled from the table he was sitting at. "I know that Rick made an agreement with you, so I ask you, why are you here in our cell block?" Herschel's face was bright red as he stood in front of Carol and Beth but also close to where the inmates were standing near the door on the top steps. Carol wasn't sure if Hershel realized it, but he practically yelling at the two men and Carol desperately wished that Daryl or anyone else was there.

"THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!" Carol whipped around to see Daryl sprinting out from the door and stopping abruptly in front of the two men.

"Whoa! Calm down there redneck, I'm more than willing to share that pixie woman or blonde over there, I was just coming back to see if my dope was still in my mattress—" but whatever else Thomas was going to say was cut off as Daryl quickly removed his buck knife and stabbed it in the man's upper thigh. Complete and utter animalistic uproar occurred. Daryl was on top of Thomas punching and kicking and stomping the shit out of Thomas while removing his buck knife from his upper thigh to his arms and lower legs, completely ignoring Andrew who was whacking the shit out of Daryl's back. Carol was panicking and Beth was clinging to her, Hershel tried to rip Andrew off but Andrew turned around and sent Hershel into an unconscious bag on the floor. Beth ran towards her unconscious father while Carol did the only thing she could think of at the time, she raised her gun and pulled the trigger.

* * *

**Ah, precious cliff-hangers! If all goes well, another chapter will be out tomorrow night. Thanks for reading and sendme some love along with helpful critiques or ideas!**


	5. Chapter 5

"What the hell is going on here?!" Rick shouted as he entered the call block. Everything was a blur of chaos, yelling, fighting, cursing, an unfulfilling need to kill. Lori, Carl, and Maggie were coming from their naps immediately rushing to Hershel's side, while Rick, Shane, Glen, and T-Dog were rushing inside—most likely hearing the piercing echo of Carol's gun shot. As quickly as the men entered, they noticed that a very sweaty, bloody, and appeared to be injured Daryl was standing a few feet in front of Carol while Andrew was tending to a very gruesome bloody and agonized Thomas.

"Man the fuck are you doin' in here?! See this Rick?! We should've taken care of this before making their beds and scrubbing their toilets for them! Hey!" Shane said slapping at the becoming unconscious Thomas while T-Dog was holding Andrew down; Glen was now looking from afar while helping Maggie, Lori, Carl, and Beth began to carry Hershel away from the scene and into the confines of their prison beds. Shane was now kneeling in front of Thomas while Rick was just looking at every person in the room wondering what had happened in their short absence; the rest were gone but Carol seemed to be shaking while gripping her gun face down, Daryl was still glaring with a cut lip, black eye, and he was leaning on one leg while holding onto the right side of his ribs. Rick looked to Andrew, watching him as he was glaring at Shane while Shane was slapping Thomas's face looking for a response; Rick noticed a bloody baseball bat by Andrew's feet which must have explained Daryl.

"Shane, stop," Rick demanded, causing Shane to just look at Rick in bewilderment as he simultaneously scoffed while standing up, headed over to check on Carol as Rick presumed. Rick kneeled down and observed Thomas, noticing deep slashes on his legs and arms. Thomas's face was a wreck and close to being unrecognizable, as Rick looked closer, he saw a strategic slicing in Thomas's arms—a deep cut from the wrist up the entire length of his arm. He was losing too much blood; his lips were paling, almost turning blue, his breathing was irregular and coming out as harsh gasps and wheezing, Thomas was slowly dying. Rick glanced up to look at a very put- out Daryl who still had determination in his fixed eyes as they were glued to Thomas.

"Daryl…." Rick began, pinching the bridge of his nose while looking down in his classic Rick-thinking-kneel pose. "Why…why did you just kill Thomas?" As Rick said this, he heard Carol gasp and cover her mouth while looking at Rick; causing a wince from Daryl, breaking his line of sight with his prey and he closed his eyes to look down.

"Carol," Shane side while placing a hand on her shoulder at the same time as removing the weapon from her tightly clutched hand. "You mind telling us what the hell happened here?"

"I….They came in and said…" This erupted another wince from Daryl but he simply continued to hold onto his ribs while his eyes were still tightly slammed shut—most likely trying to escape the world at that moment.

"He said he wanted his weed that was in his mattress… This must have been their old cell—"

"So?! Daryl you attacked him because of that? I know they weren't supposed to cross our path but at least hold him over until I…or Rick… came back man! Typical redneck Dixon style, ain't that right?"

"Shane," Rick began in irritation at the way this was digging deeper and deeper south.

"Shane! Thomas made a comment about forcibly sleeping with Beth and me. After knowing what we know about him and his past, Daryl did a noble act. I shot at the ceiling, I wanted them to stop or get distracted, I don't know but it worked. Daryl let up and then immediately after ya'll came running in." Carol steadfastly stated. The atmosphere of the room completely changed; T-Dog's grip on Andrew became more aggressive while Shane was slowly advancing on the two inmates, Daryl still had his eyes sealed shut and continued holding onto his side—as still as a statue; while Rick was glaring down at the limp man who lay right under him.

"Okay…we're taking care of this today! Carol, go check on the others, and help Daryl get to a proper bed. Shane, T-Dog, come on, we're taking care of this!" Rick furiously spat out his orders. Carol attentively reached out her arm and lightly placed her hand on Daryl's back, not expecting his flinching action which caused him to turn away and speedily limp towards the cells. With a sigh and a last nervous glance at the other men who were rough handling the convicts, Carol followed after Daryl towards the cells.

* * *

"So tell me," Shane snarled while slapping the back of Andrew's head, causing the man to hiss in pain followed by a menacing glare at Shane. "You buddies in on this too? After we JUST made a damn agreement about not coming to our side of the prison, you thought it was smart to waltz right on in and talk to our women? Huh?!" Shane yelled with another slap to the back of Andrew's head. Both Rick and T-Dog were now carrying, what they thought was sure, a dead Thomas's body behind Shane as he was leading them deep in the tombs.

"If you were smart, you'd answer me. 'Less you wanna go like your good ole' pal here," Shane darkly said. Rick looked hard at his friend. This was hard, the situation was hard. They just established an agreement hours ago and the men broke it, along with terrorizing members of the group, Rick forgot to even check Hershel to see what was wrong. But torture was never part of Rick's intentions, and his best friend seemed all too keen with the idea of a slow death. Rick could justify Daryl's reasoning, hell, Rick's done the same thing if not worst to Shane just because Shane doubted his husband/fathering abilities. But this was different, though they had to get rid of Andrew, it was obvious the man hadn't done any harm, besides a beaten up Daryl, but he was just following orders from Thomas to go with him to get his precious dope. Daryl sought nothing else, but the protection of his group and Rick wasn't blind enough to notice that Daryl and Carol had a particular bond, and if Carol was threatened in any way, Rick wouldn't expect anything less than a violent and protective reaction from Daryl. But even though it's already happened almost a year ago, Rick hated the idea of losing his friend and what he believed to be, brother. However, Daryl's loyalties have changed Rick's perspectives on what a true friend and brother is meant to be.

"He just said…that he could talk to you guys. He just wanted his dope then he was gonna ditch. No harm done." Andrew pathetically said, he already knew his fate.

"Yeah? Then why the gun, baseball bat, Daryl's broken ribs, an old man knocked out, and a terrified woman?!" Shane said while violently shaking Andrew to the point where he tripped fell on the ground.

"Man get up! Ya piece of shit! Last time anyone is going to help you up," Rick couldn't help but hear the true darkness of Shane's words as he spoke.

"Where we goin' anyway?" Asked a very sweaty T-Dog.

"You'll see." Was all that Shane had to say about the matter.

"Where are the others, Andrew?" Rick figured that as long as Shane was playing bad cop, he could play the devil's advocate.

"They still in D… they didn't even know man! What kind of people are you?! Storming in our house, making demands, and ya'll just gonna kill them now too?!" Andrew finished with yet another slap to the back of his head by Shane.

"You want us to lock you back up in the food closet? And we won't touch those men unless they come on our side—as agreed!" Rick said with annoyance.

"Alright, this is where we depart boys," Shane snarled while sliding open a prison door and throwing Andrew out in the court yard, leaving a very shocked and confused Rick and T-Dog. Andrew's yelling was immediately heard, causing Shane to quickly snatch Thomas out of Rick's and T-Dog's arms and toss him outside as well.

"Shane! What the fuck are you doing?! We kill them with a bullet in the head, not watch them get eaten alive!" Rick yelled while starting for the door, causing a puffing Shane to shove Rick back and locking the door with his keys. Andrew and Thomas were now at the very heart of the lay out of the prison, it had the prison walls surrounding three sides of this closed in court yard while a 12-foot barbed wire fence blocked off the remaining side.

"Man, back up. This, this is how _I_ get things done. We're done here; let's go check on our people." Shane snarled while pushing past Rick, hitting his shoulder with his own as he walked past him.

"I don't know about this...It's not exactly a guarantee," T-Dog said while rubbing the back of his head with anxiety. The cries of Andrew were undeniable, and if Thomas wasn't dead before then he was getting eaten alive in his unconsciousness.

"Let's go!" Rick demanded T-Dog, walking ahead to catch up with Shane, his right hand settled on his python while the blood on his silver wedding band ring covered any remaining shine. Rick felt threaten, this wasn't his call. Shane was becoming more over bearing than ever. Rick and Rick alone was in charge. This just wasn't his call.

* * *

Carol watched as Daryl stomped up the stairs, as fast as he could, while picking up his poncho with the rest of his belongings to carry them with him to cell that was only a cell away from Carol's and Lori's. Carol followed poor Beth's cries to her and Hershel's cell. Carl was leaning on the door just watching as Maggie, Beth, and a very pregnant Lori were kneeling and softly talking to a now recovering Hershel who appeared to be alright.

"Hey," Glen said, his arms tightly folded across his chest overlooking the entire scene. Carol ruffled Carl's hair then threw her arm over the boy's shoulders.

"I shouldn't have been napping while my dad was out. I could've prevented this," Carl murmured, Carol didn't know if he was saying this to her or to himself, but either way, it didn't matter.

"Carl, not everything falls on your shoulders, you know? There was nothing you could have done. The men are taking care of it now. As long as nobody was seriously hurt, then everything is fine." Carol lightly said to Carl, trying to comfort him in any way.

"Well….not Daryl. He might've broken his ribs. I mean….I've never seen him that beat up since the farm…" Carl trailed off, but Carol knew; and she was very concerned about Daryl the way he was acting since he jumped off of Thomas after hearing the shot go off.

"Here," Glen light said, passing over gauze and a bowl of water over to Carol.

"Thank you," Carol said with a genuine smile to Glen, receiving a slight smile and nod back from Glen before focusing on the scene again.

"And stay out of trouble," Carol said while ruffling Carl's hair one last time before exiting the cell to ascend the stairs to meet a very grumpy cat Daryl Dixon.

* * *

"I've been looking all over for you dear, where've ya been hiding? I wanted to tell you that our lobster dinner is made and ready to be eaten," Carol lighted teased Daryl, as a way of letting him know that she was entering his now occupied cell and settling down in a chair next to him. All of his few belongings were thrown in a corner while his crossbow lay on the floor next to him. Daryl was still wearing his clothes with the exception of his boots. His cut lip wasn't bleeding anymore but Carol's seen better days for his eye. Daryl's few top buttons were undone, allowing Carol to get a peek at the tuffs of his sandy brown chest hair, seeing just the top of his faded thick pink scar. Daryl just scoffed and risked a glance in her direction before looking back down on his hands which lay on his outstretched legs.

"Whatcha want?" What Carol thought to be quite a rude response from Daryl.

"I was comin' to check up on you…" Carol lightly said, placing the bowl on the ground and dipping a white cloth in it. But as she moved closer to Daryl and just about to wipe away at the blood that lay on his bottom lip, Daryl flinched and jerked his head away, causing him to hiss and grab at his side.

"Daryl what's wrong? Tell me," Carol demanded to know why Daryl was suddenly flinching away from her.

"Ain't nothing. Just need to rest up. I'll be back on my feet by tomorrow," Daryl said while failing at his attempt to snarl at Carol.

"Well obviously something!" Carol said in an exasperated voice. Daryl just continued to look down, as if he would wish Carol away.

"Daryl don't shut out on me. Don't push me away. I'm here, I'm here for you Daryl. Tell me what's wrong. What did I do? But I'm not leaving until I check you," Carol said in what she could tell to be a pleading voice. Daryl was very quiet and very still, but he was chewing on his bottom lip so Carol knew that he was working something out in his head. Carol just had to wait there and wait for the gears to stop.  
"You uh," Daryl began after several minutes of silence, making direct eye contact with Carol and holding it there. Carol was completely transfixed by the man. Through his eyes is when Carol could read him best, and right now he just looked scared and desperate, and it was starting to break away at Carol's heart. "You scared of me…think I'm a killer; some kind of monster?" Daryl shyly asked this like a little boy and Carol suddenly had the urge to throw her arms around him and reassure him of all the problems in the world. Finding no words that could sum up how Carol felt, that she was proud to have him by her side constantly defending her honor, while protecting and providing the group, that she loved him right after Sophia, that she thought he was one of the greatest human beings ever; Carol did the only thing she could think of—to simply show Daryl. She slowly stood up from her seat so that Daryl could see every action that was being made. Carol then bent down, and gave Daryl a long kiss on his temple, then after that, giving an even longer kiss on his cheek, followed by a quick peck before sitting back down and not breaking her eye contact with Daryl—although she did notice that he was completely rigid stiff and that he appeared to be blushing.

"No," Carol softly replied. This caused an enormous release of breath from Daryl, followed by him wincing and clutching at his side, but he still managed to lift his head back up, his long locks getting in eyes and face, but Carol couldn't miss his bright blue steel eyes peeking through his bangs and his signature half smirk. Carol couldn't even describe how much she loved these moments between her and Daryl but right now she had to focus because he was injured.

"Ok there, Mr. 'Redneck Dixon', what seems to be the problem?" Carol playfully asked while wipping down at his bloody face, pleased that he was no longer flinching anymore.

"I'm fine, you should just go rest up. I just need some rest," Daryl lightly said to Carol.

"Ugh, Daryl….at least play along while I'm actually playing doctor." Carol responded with feigned annoyance. This just earned a little chuckle from Daryl but he didn't say anything back. Minutes slowly creped past and Carol was checking all that she could—all that Daryl would let her gain access to. Finally, after twenty minutes of silence, Daryl responded.

"Well sorry to disappoint ya ma'am, but I just really want some sleep. I'll let ya check on me tomorrow though, how 'bout that?" Carol was hesitant but she knew that Daryl needed his rest. She would check by him that night and first thing the next morning.

"Okay…. But lay on your side, and hug this pillow against where your ribs hurt. If it's anything serious, this will help with the breathing." Carol said as she was preparing to leave, but once she reached the door Daryl spoke.

"Thank ya." Carol turned and gave the man she knew that she loved a smile.

"Thank you for keeping your promise about protecting me…." Carol said sheeply. She still felt guilty about Daryl getting injured over her and she hated feeling weak, but fear took over her today as images of Ed and physical force came back into her mind as Thomas spoke.

"Always Carol…" Daryl said before turning on his side and falling into the only kind of bliss you could get from this world.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Thank you so much for the reviews and keep them coming! Unfortunately, I have an appointment early Friday morning to get all of my wisdom teeth pulled; so I might be able to post something Saturday, but if not, definitely Sunday! Don't worry, more 1-on-1 CARYL feels are to come! I just need to get everything with everyone else situated so that you have a feel of where the characters are. ALSO! I plan on taking this story throughout season 4... so this will will have a sequel, which will start how season 4 started. In regards to this fic, I'm going to stay away from focusing or dedicating an entire chapter on the Governor/Woodbury. I didn't like watching an entire episode based off of them in the show so I can't bring myself to write it. We all know what happened, so I'll only write essentials which would directly affect my fic. Thanks again, lots of love!**

**-Elena **


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry it took me so long to get back to this! I tried to do it justice and as a result I've written the most I've ever written before- over 4,000 words! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Carol left Daryl's cell with a little pep in her walk; she was pleased that he didn't seem to be mad at her—which was exactly what she couldn't help but think after the incident with Thomas coming in their prison. Carol didn't believe that Daryl intentionally sought out to slowly torture or murder Thomas, but Thomas was a threat. If he had gotten physical with Beth, Maggie, Lori, or herself, and Daryl wasn't there; then Carol would have made sure to eliminate the threat. Although Carol had been married many years and even had a daughter with her husband, she knew what it was like to be manipulated and taken advantage of by a monster; and she would make sure that innocent Beth would never have to endure that trauma; this new world was hard enough. She heard Rick, Shane, T-Dog, and Glen come in from below so she began to make her way down there; meeting everyone at the entrance of Hershel's cell.

"Well?" Carol softly asked the men.

"It's all taken care of," Shane casually said while throwing his arm over Carol's shoulders. "Yep, we won't be seeing nothin' from them again." Carol nodded while sliding away from under his hold to get near Hershel who was now talking to a whispering Rick.

"How's Daryl?" Rick asked Carol.

"I'm not exactly sure," Carol began, causing Rick's brows to immediately draw together—a concerned look crossing his face. "He doesn't seem to be too bad off but he was sure getting a beating with that bat so I rather be safe than sorry."

"'Course ya do, dear," Hershel said while still laying down. "His ribs very well be fractured, but other than that, I suspect nothing more than severe bruising and I imagine he would be in a lot of pain. Be sure to check on him tonight." With a nod Carol walked off to finish their dinner.

* * *

After finishing dinner, cleaning, and showering, Carol got all that she thought Daryl would need to make a speedy recovery, along with the dinner he missed. As Carol entered his cell, she immediately went to the lamp near his head on his nightstand; hoping that the light would wake him up and make him aware then she was present. It was only then that Carol realized that he was laying on his stomach, his boots were thrown off and near his bunk, his pants were still on while he was laying on top of his blankets but his shirt was slightly risen. Curiosity got the best of Carol when she saw dark purple and almost black bruises on Daryl's lower back. Tentatively, Carol began to raise Daryl's shirt, and the further she raised his shirt up, more horrified Carol got. She had known about his scars, she'd seen them when she brought Daryl his food after his own arrow impaled him while he was desperately searching for Sophia. Carol wasn't looking at his scars, but the more the noticeable black, purple, and somewhat green and yellow bruises looked unbearable. Suddenly Daryl shot up, causing Carol to throw her hand back as if she had been burned and in Daryl's hurry, he ended up hitting his head on the top bunk.

"Ow! Aye what the hell?!" Daryl angrily growled while coming back to life.

"Sorry! I'm sorry," Carol gasped in a frightened voice. Daryl looked pissed to say the least, but he also looked a little disoriented, like he didn't quite know where he was or what was going on; only that someone had invaded his sleeping territory and tore him away from his dreams. Carol noticed that he looked slightly less annoyed when he made eye contact with her Carol.

"I just…I'm just here to check on ya Daryl," Carol finished lamely. It was only then when Daryl realized that his shirt was risen and he quickly pulled it down, making a move to flip over and lay on his back.

"It ain't tomorrow yet. Told ya I was fine," Daryl said in an angry tone, hissing while he turned.

"Daryl, please, just humor me. It's obvious that you're in pain. I just want to check you out," Carol realized what she had just said and she felt the blood rising to her cheeks; luckily if Daryl caught her innuendo he at least didn't indicate that he had, "…I know that there's not much I can do about the bruises but I can give you some pain killers at least—"

"Naw, gotta keep my head strong. I can't be asleep all day with those guys living 'ere with us,"

"Daryl please, just take the pain killers and I'm going to check you out," Carol pleaded while moving close to Daryl, placing her hand on the bottom hem of his shirt as if to lift it, only to be stopped with Daryl's hand gently grasping her own. Carol chanced it to look at Daryl, his usually hard steel blue eyes looked scared to her; he appeared to be pleading right back.

"Daryl, it's just me and I just want to make sure that you're okay," Carol simply stated. She wouldn't rest until she made sure that his ribs weren't fractured, like Hershel suggested they be.

"'Kay," Was all Daryl had to say before releasing Carol although he was still sitting in a very rigid position. Carol began to slowly unbutton Daryl's shirt, feeling happy that it was actually a button down and not a shirt that he would have to struggle to pull over his head. She moved slowly because she didn't want to alarm Daryl in any way or make him any tenser. Once the shirt was completely unbuttoned, Carol glanced up again, letting him know that she intended to take his shirt off. Daryl's look was a hard one to read, he was still rigid and stiff as a board, but his eyes seemed relaxed as they were settled on Carol, watching her every move. Carol was a little self-conscious as she saw that Daryl's blue eyes were boring into hers; and she got completely lost in his look; he seemed okay, resolved, almost content, but he still looked a little frightened. She had to force herself to collect herself again and then she began to push his sleeve over his shoulders, grazing his hard muscles in the process. Daryl gave off a shiver at this, causing Carol to involuntarily shiver in return. _He's so strong…and his skin was so soft. FOCUS._ Carol was there for one reason and one reason only, to make sure that Daryl was okay. After his shirt was down, Carol went to softly feel his ribs, waiting for any reaction. Trying to ignore that Daryl was getting more and more rigid while his eyes were still tightly slammed shut, she continued her journey of from the top of his torso to his mid to lower half. Daryl let out a sharp hiss when Carol reached his lower ribs on his right side.

"So sorry! Did I hurt you?" Carol gasped.

"Nah, Carol you're good," Daryl said with a half-hearted chuckle.

"I don't think your ribs are broken, but they could be cracked. I'm going to wrap you up, okay?" Carol said while reaching for the white wrapping.

"Yeah…I know what a broken rib is. Told ya I was fine," Daryl said without any conviction that he was actually angry. Carol ignored his side remark and began to wrap his torso, making sure that everything would stay in place.

"So then you know it's best to lay on your injured side, continuing holding your pillow, and alternate from deep to shallow breaths? Oh and also, not strenuous activity like killing walkers or hunting, but it is good to exercise so by mid-day tomorrow I'll walk with you around the yard to keep watch." Carol cheekily said to him, finishing the wrapping—all the while sputtering what she remembered from the internet when Ed had cracked her ribs. She couldn't help but take everything of Daryl in, and although the single lamp didn't offer much for Carol, she appreciated it all the same. His triangle shaped frame with his broad shoulders all narrowing down as if to point down to his mid-section. No, Carol had to focus instead of looking at his chiseled muscles. While finishing the wrapping, Carol realized it was all too quite. She took a leap of faith to meet an angry looking Daryl. His eyes were dark and she realized that his hands were grasping onto the sheets and he appeared to be in pain again although Carol wasn't touching him anymore.

"Ed," Carol said simply. There was no use in lying to Daryl, he knew about all that there was to know about Carol. Carol sarcastically chuckled as she bent down to pick up his probably now cold dinner; eventually handing it to him.

"He could never do anything right, Ed. Couldn't even break my ribs probably when he wanted to—"

"Ya think that's funny Carol?! 'Cause it sure as hell fucking ain't. He was a piece of shit and dontcha dare go jokin' 'bout that asshole layin' his hands on ya to fucking hurt ya!" Daryl said, raising his voice several octaves higher then needed to get his point across, completely ignoring his dinner. Carol almost felt sorry for bringing it up.

"Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it," Carol finished lamely. Daryl just curtly nodded but didn't say anything else. He just began to roughly pick at his food, still not eating anything.

"Daryl please, let's just drop it, okay? You need to eat and take some of these pills; I saw your back and you're definitely in pain."

"Well ain't 'cha a peach? Just know everything, dontcha?"Daryl jokingly said while nudging her shoulder, only to end up hissing in the process because the action must have pulled not only on his cracked ribs but bruises as well. Carol passed him a bottle of water while also giving him two Advils.

"Eat up, and make sure ya get some rest. I'll come by before bed to pick up your plate. Okay?" Carol softly said to Daryl as he was still picking at his food. Carol moved her hand ever so slightly and brushed her fingers through Daryl's hair. It was an unconscious act but Carol was brought back to her consciousness when Daryl grabbed the arm that Carol was using and gently rubbed his thumb on her arm; not breaking eye content while still having that look on his face which made Carol wonder which emotion he was feeling. Not knowing how else to cope with the obvious tension in the air, Carol got up and began to make her leave.

"Sleep well Daryl," Carol said while reaching the cell door. "I'll see you tomorrow; and thank you again for proving to be my knight in shining armor." Carol light heartedly teased him.

"Hey," Daryl tentatively began. "Ya ok right? Ain't nothing happened 'fore I got there when that asshole began runnin' his mouth?" Carol noticed that Daryl had still completely neglected his food and all of his attention was now on her.

"Yes Daryl, I'm fine. Just a little tired is all."

"Alright, well… 'night Carol. And dontcha worry 'bout my plate none, I'll take care of it tomorrow."

"Good night Daryl." And with that Carol went to go check on Lori and the others to try to kill some time before going back and retrieving Daryl's plate. On second thought, her bed in her cell was far too tempting and she figured she could call it a night, pleased that Daryl wasn't too injured and that everyone in the prison, for the time being, was safe.

* * *

It had been two days since the incident with Thomas and Andrew. The following day Shane elaborated that they actually just dumped the two convicts out the walker-filled courtyard. This caused an eerie remark from Carl stating that next they'll be blowing holes in Thomas and Andrew as walkers and it was just over kill. Nobody found this to be funny, even Lori and Rick looked disgusted and Lori grabbed Carl by the back of the head and lead him towards his cell to what Daryl presumed was to have a little chat with the boy. Daryl had to admit that he thought it was stupid too, it was a sufficient way to get rid of their enemies but the likely hood of them escaping that court yard was very unlikely. Daryl hated not being able to hunt, but then again it was only the second day and he had to admit that he liked it when Carol checked up on him. Daryl wasn't sure what was going on with these new and growing feelings for Carol; he had honestly never cared for anyone in his life like how he cared for her so he wasn't sure what to do or how to act. He didn't know if she expected anything or he should tell her that he felt differently towards her, but he always shot down that idea because it made him sound like an idiot.

When Carol began to take his shirt off, with her soft delicate hands carefully feeling his body, Daryl thought he was slowing losing his mind. He had to grip his hands so tight so his mind would draw attention to this new stinging pain; but it was done in vain. Daryl liked looking into Carol's eyes; although they've all lived through hell, her big blue eyes were so clear and pure. He enjoyed to simply watch Carol and all of her slightest actions but when he makes eye contact he feels as though they are connected and they can talk to each other without actually saying anything. But while Carol continued to work on him, he couldn't help but feel ashamed. Daryl felt himself begin to get aroused and all the woman was doing was checking to make sure his damn ribs weren't broken. He tried to focus on the stinging in ribs, back, and now his hands; trying to block out Carol's delicate figure. And then when she ran her hands through his hair, the action was so soothing, Daryl couldn't help but feel all the tension leave his body while he began to feel relaxed for the first time all day. He couldn't help but feel like a perv, here she was trying to help him and he was just thinking about soft and great Carol was. Admittedly, Carol was unlike any woman he had ever met, nothing like the women that Merle always brought over. Bottom line, Carol was his best friend and he was not about to risk anything that might change their relationship just because Daryl couldn't get his feelings checked.

* * *

Today was meant to be a pretty relaxed day; the plan was that all the able members of the group go out and move the cars around while others clean up around the prison to fortify their new living space. Daryl, Carol, Rick, and T-Dog were outside moving the cars around. While Hershel, Beth, Lori, Carl, and Shane were inside; Daryl only suspected that Shane was trying to score some with Lori and that's why he wasn't out here in the heat helping everyone else.

"Where are Glen and Maggie? We could use the extra help," Carol asked when they were done moving the latest cars.

"They're up in the guard tower. Aye Glen! Maggie!" Daryl called out to the guard tower; everyone knew why they asked for their watch shifts alone.

"Oh hey guys…" Glen said with a sheepish wave, while fastening the belt of his pants and letting everyone get a view of how pale his upper body truly was.

"Ya comin'?" Daryl jokingly asked.

"Wha'…what?!" A confused Glen called down.

"Ya comin'? Come on, we need your help." This made everyone laugh at Daryl's sly way of making fun of the pair.

"Oh…yeah! We'll be right down!" Glen reassured them before heading back to the security of the guard tower to put clothes back on. Daryl looked over and couldn't help but laugh at Carol and feel proud that he was able to make her fall into a fit of giggles like that; he liked it when they joked and played with each other, not at all minding the playful swat she gave him.

"Hey Rick…" T-Dog said, causing everyone to turn around to find Axel and Oscar slowly walking to the opening of the prison yard. Everyone's laughter immediately slowed down as they all got on their guard.

"Come with me," Rick snarled while headed towards the unwelcomed inmates. Daryl would've came regardless, they had a deal and so far all these inmates were violating it. Daryl made sure to stay close to Carol behind Rick, while T-Dog stood the right of Rick.

"What are you doing here? We had an agreement." Rick snarled to them. Daryl had his left hand on his buck knife, it was a little awkward to get used to but his right side still hurt him.

"Please mister," Axel began, "We don't mean no trouble. But don't make us live in our cell blocks no more. There's ghosts! Please, please mister! Don't make us go back in there."

"Our deal is non-negotiable! You either stay in your cell block of leave." Rick snapped. Daryl could feel the tension rising, but he didn't feel his body subconsciously lean closer towards Carol in the process. Glen came out from the guard tower with Maggie close behind him; surely these two couldn't possibly cause any harm since they were so outnumbered but Daryl would not let down his guard until these guys were back to where they needed to be.

"I told you this was a waste of time. These pricks are no better than the ones who locked us up in there. Do you know how many of our friend's dead bodies we had to burn…just throw them out like…these were good guys. Good guys who kept us safe from the really bad guys like Thomas and Andrew. And believe me, there's nothing I rather do then to hit that road rather than stay in there another minute," Oscar strongly finished. Rick seemed hesitant and he looked back at Daryl, seeking a direction of which path he should follow. Daryl wasn't fazed at all. Not changing his body at all but to move his eyes from the prisoners to meet Rick's, Daryl simply shook his head no. He would not risk anything happening to the group when he didn't know these people. With a sigh, Rick turned around to the face the convicts.

* * *

"Shane, please," Lori said in an exasperated tone while Shane was following her around the cell block.

"Lori, ya can't just tell me ya think you're in labor then not do nothin' about it. Now I'm gonna go find Hershel and get this taken care of," Shane said matter-of-factly.

"Honestly Shane," Lori said grasping his forearm. "I've been in labor before, this is definitely going to take a while. I just need to walk around, a lot, and not sit bunched up waiting for the baby to come. If I walk around a lot, I'll speed the process up. I know you'll take care of me Shane," Lori said while moving the hand that laid on his forearm to his face, gently stroking his cheek, causing Shane to sigh and close his eyes.

"Mom?" Carl called out from behind. Carl looked confused as Lori and Shane jumped apart from each other, Beth was right Carl also looking confused.

"Honey…um.."

"Your mom's in labor," Shane took it upon himself to break the ice as he knelt down in front of Carl, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Ya ready to be a good big brother and take care of your little brother or sister?"

"Oh! I'll go get daddy!" Beth excitedly said causing Lori to sigh in disbelief; she had wanted to keep things quite until she was closer to delivery.

"Yeah!" Carl said grinning broadly.

"Thata boy!" Shane grinned in response, clapping Carl on the shoulder.

"Lori," Hershel began was he was walking towards her.

"Hershel, honestly, I know that it's going to take a while, I just need to walk."

"Alright, well why don't we lay ya down, take a look at ya, make sure that everything is going fine and then we'll take a little stroll outside to tell the others." Hershel said with a nod towards the closest cell.

"Sounds like a deal, Lori," Shane said while his thumbs were tucked away in his front belt loops.

"Alright," Lori said in slight defeat.

* * *

Daryl, Rick, and Glen were outside of the prison yard near the fences, all intending to bring back more fire wood for the prison while Carol, Maggie, and T-Dog continued working on things inside the perimeter.

"Should I take it?" Glen asked, raising his gun to a nearby walker.

"No, save your bullets and we don't want to draw too much attention on a day like this," Rick said in response.

"Hey Rick, take a look at this," Daryl said. While scanning the prison yard to keep an eye on Carol, Daryl noticed that a very pregnant Lori was walking outside along with Shane, Carl, Beth, and Hershel; all of which were crowding Lori which Daryl thought to be weird. When Rick came back on the inside of the fence, he noticed Lori was well. She was smiling ear to ear and was pointing down to her baby. _It was time._

"Congratulations Rick!" Glen happily Rick, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey keep ya cheers down," Daryl said while pointing to walkers which were headed in their direction due to Glen's recent outburst.

"Aw man…can't we have just one good day?" Glen said while slowly securing the fence back up. Everyone just froze to appreciate the moment, they were all a family and Lori was about to give birth to a baby and bring a new human being into this world. The impossible was becoming possible. Daryl wasn't sure why Lori was walking around in the damn prison yard if she was about to pop, but that was just his opinion. Daryl's eyes scanned the yard and his eyes landed on Carol who was near T-Dog. They made eye contact and they both softly smiled at each other.

"Watch out! WALKERS!" Carl yelled while turning around. Sure enough, all of the walkers that were trapped in the court yard were filling into the yard and were greedily reaching to get their hands on their desired food. It turned into absolute chaos. It was a blur of motion as everyone was scrambling to make it out.

"LORI! CARL! COME IN HERE!" Daryl distantly heard Rick bellow in panic although he was only a matter of feet ahead of him. Daryl could barely breathe; he wasn't sure if he was because of his ribs, or because he felt as though he was having a heart attack. But everything started to burn. He was running as hard as he could but Glen had already ran past him and now he and Rick were way ahead of him. His heart was burning, his sides were burning, his legs were burning, he felt a cramping in his lower abdomen, and he felt as though his eyes were beginning to burn—most likely from his sweat pouring into his eyes. Carol was out there and Daryl was struggling to remember if she had a weapon on her. He felt as though his heart was slowly collapsing and it was amazing that his body was still able to breathe, run, and simply function on its own. His ears were pounding and all he felt was complete panic and worry about Carol being out there alone and defenseless. Daryl didn't know how this happened, which direction everyone was running in, how many shots were being fired, whose yells were whose, or if anybody was already hurt if not killed. But at that moment, none of it mattered, Daryl _had_ to find Carol and he wouldn't rest until he did.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The prison sirens were blaring, the group—his family—was yelling in fear, walkers were growling, up ahead Rick was bellowing to Lori and Carl, the birds were chirping, gun shots were being fired, the heavy fall of running footsteps could be heard against the gravel, panting from exhaustion could be heard from anyone within a 20 foot radius, but Daryl's heart was pounding so hard in his chest and as the pumped blood filled his ears; Daryl could hardly make out anything. His vision was blurry but he at least knew which direction he was going in. The sharp pains on his side from the flexing and reflexing movement from his ribs made it feel like a sharp burning blade was slicing him; but he couldn't stop. He had to reach them; he had to make sure that Carol was safe and alive.

"Come on! Come on, come on!" Daryl yelled at Rick who was struggling to find the right key to unlock the gates which led to the prison yard, the drawl obvious in his voice. Finally Rick got it open and everyone was sprinting towards the yard, the inmates following close behind them. The closer they got, Shane's yelling became louder and louder. It became apparent that Shane was the only one in the open court yard, Hershel had Beth locked up through the gated part of the prison which served as another entrance door to the inside of the prison. They were helping Shane who was wildly shooting at any walkers that got close to him, not moving from his tight stance.

"Come on, ya sons of bitches! Come on!" Shane yelled while sinisterly laughing at them. Rick and Glen were able to catch up to Shane to help him finish the remaining walkers, while Daryl had to stop, grasping his knees, breathing so hard that it hurt. He hung back to catch his breath and take in his surroundings: Shane was standing still in the middle, firing at walkers which led to a pile of them gathering near his feet. Looking around all he saw Hershel and Beth nearby, nobody else, no Carol. Daryl felt his heart beat began to pick up as he thought the worst; but no, she had to have gotten away. He also didn't see her body lying around with the walkers either, so that had to be a good sign. Panic was well over sitting in and Daryl began to sweat even more as he felt his heart begin to collapse; she couldn't be dead.

"Stupid assholes!" Shane yelled at the last of the walkers, making sure to kick them as he walked by. Suddenly Shane spotted Axel and Oscar and he quickly advanced on them.

"What the hell is goin' on?!" Shane yelled, grabbing Axel by the front of his shirt and shaking him. "Huh?! The fuck is this all 'bout?!" Daryl, Rick, Glen, and Oscar moved to separate the two, while Hershel and Beth were making their way down and to the remaining members of the group.

"Nah man, nah! Letme go!" Shane yelled to Rick while shoving him away, advancing on Axel again. "Ya think this is a game? You did this?!" Shane yelled, slapping Axel in the back of the head.

"Shane enough!" Hershel yelled.

"You seriously think they did it?" Glen timidly asked.

"Who else?" Rick snarled, while Shane was pacing back and forth in front of the two. Rick aimed his python to closest siren, firing at it to stop the sound—at least from that section of the prison.

"It wasn't us! Please mister! How could it have been us when you had us locked on up outside?" Axel pleaded with Shane and Rick.

"Shane! Where are the others? Lori, Carl?"

"Man I don't know! I saw Maggie go off with them—" Gesturing towards cell block C of the prison.

"And Carol?" Daryl asked in complete despair.

"Saw her go off with T…But T got bit man! What the fuck did ya'll do?!" Shane angrily asked while turning to the inmates again. So Carol is with T-Dog and he got bit, Daryl began to pace.

"Which direction did they go in?!" Daryl asked, turning to Shane; who was just glaring at the others but he at least pointed to the cell block they went in.

"Is there any way to turn the generators off?! How do we stop the sirens?" Rick yelled to the inmates.

"There's a switch in the generator room, I worked in there for a while and I may be able to turn it off."

"Alright then let's go!"

"Me and Glen gonna go after Carol and T, the rest of ya'll go get the others." Daryl said resolutely to Rick and to whoever else would hear. Daryl was feeling angsty, he was basically vibrating with fear as he stood.

"Right. Hershel, Beth, you two stay here in case anyone comes back. Shane, Axel, Oscar you're with me. Whoever gets down to the generator room first, shut it down!" Rick yelled while running for the direction that Lori, Carl, and Maggie went to.

* * *

"T, I'm so sorry! But you'll be fine! We have to get you out of here," Carol cried to T-Dog as the pair hurriedly walked down the dimly lit as well as flickering hall of the cell block.

"Nah, I need to get you out of here. I'll die in these tombs but not you. It's God's plan," T-Dog said back while clutching his shoulder, frantically looking for an exit. For the first time in a really long time Carol felt alone and scared. She kept a hand on T's back while her other hand clutched her gun. Carol felt isolated, she didn't know how many walkers she was going to run into but she knew that neither she nor T had any spare ammo left. Carol was scared about the group and where they were and who made it out safe. She was scared about Daryl; she knew that he, Rick, and Glen were outside of the fences, but what if they were getting swarmed from the outside of the prison and even the courtyard of the prison was loaded with walkers. She felt scared and hopeless because she wasn't physically with Daryl at the moment, but he was a survivor and she without a doubt knew that Daryl could make it through anything.

"Get back," T-Dog suddenly said in a quite tone, roughly pushing Carol around the corner and up against the wall.

"T—" T-Dog's lips were suddenly smashed to Carol's, and at first she was in such shock that she didn't know what to do or how to react. The kiss—if you could call it that—didn't last long and just before Carol was about to push him off, T-Dog let go of Carol.

"I'll take these two. It's God's plan, I'm going to get you out of these tombs. You just make it out alive Carol," and before Carol could even process anything, T-Dog ran around the corner again with a scream. Carol rushed down the hallway that they were just turning on to find T-Dog holding two walkers back against the wall. Immediately Carol aimed for the head of the walker and fired but she was out of ammo.

"GO! GO!" T-Dog cried out just as a walker took a huge chunk out of his neck, the skin, tissue, and muscle all being pulled to their limits; being ripped off of his neck while only leaving behind bone and blood to pour out like a fountain.

"NO!" Carol cried; but she couldn't just stand there and let T-Dog die in vain. Through blurry eyes and a pounding heart that she was sure was going to collapse on her at any given moment, Carol ran out of the nearest doors and did the one thing people always tell you not to do when you're near death; she ran into the unknown light.

* * *

"Daryl, maybe we shouldn't be walking so fast in case we miss something," Glen said in exasperation while behind a cross-bow risen, panting Daryl.

"Keep ya damn eyes open and ya won't miss nothin'," Daryl growled back. The sirens of the prison suddenly turned off.

"They did it!" Glen said loudly.

"Sshhhh!" Daryl snapped back, but it was too late; two walkers were now speeding towards them. Daryl had never felt more scared, he didn't know where Carol was and he had always kept his eyes on her since Hershel's farm. The prison was overrun and there were walkers everywhere; but when Daryl spotted those flesh eating assholes, his fear turned into abhorrence. Daryl fired his crossbow at the farthest one followed by him charging at the closest one—using his crossbow to knock him down to the ground. Daryl hated these pathetic creatures; he hated what they could do to people, to his family. He raised his right foot and used all of his force to smash the walker's head; which caused him to hiss and grasp his side. His ribs still felt so tight and everything about his core hurt, but he couldn't rest, not yet. There were no times for breaks.

"I could've taken it Daryl," Glen softly said to Daryl.

"Come on. We gotta find Carol and T," Daryl said, ignoring Glen completely.

"I'm sure they're fine. Carol's with T anyway."

"Whas' that's supposed ta mean?" Daryl snapped at Glen again.

"Well, yeah Carol's gotten stronger, but there was a lot of walkers man. She's way better off with him then without," Glen said, sensing the tension while trying to explain his reasoning.

"Carol don't need to depend on nobody. I reckon she can take of herself just fine. And dontcha go doubting her or writing her off _China_." Daryl growled to him. He knew Glen was just speaking his mind but nobody gave Carol the credit she deserved, she's been through more hell than half of the group could even handle, and she's still here, fighting. Daryl believed in Carol, he always would.

"Man take it easy. I wasn't writing anybody off. Come on, just slow down a little bit, you're panting like you just ran a marathon." Daryl just ignored Glen and continued on. His flashlight was under his crossbow, if anything unwelcoming crossed his path, they were dead. The deeper they walked into the tombs, the more dead bodies they found.

"Has to be a good sign right?" Glen hopefully asked. Daryl didn't know what to think; of course it was good that none of these walkers were Carol or T, but there were more then he would have liked to see and he knew that at some point that they would have ran out of ammo or have gotten exhausted from hand to hand combat. Daryl pointed his light down and it was only then that he saw a steady trail of blood; it wasn't too bad, but it was definitely fresh and it was droplets of blood; as if it had fallen from somebody's body.

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl yelled, picking up the pace while still watching their trail of bread crumbs. As selfish as it may have sounded, Daryl was begging to whatever God existed out there, to please let it not be Carol's.

"Doesn't look too bad. Maybe just a broken nose?" Glen hopefully asked. Again, Daryl ignored him; he felt his throat began to close up and he wasn't sure he could speak even if he tried. The worst part was simply not knowing, he didn't know where Carol was, what condition she was in, if she was safe or not; nothing. It was taking a toll on Daryl and all he felt was worry and anger. They continued walking on, religiously tracking the blood until they turned around a corner and saw two walkers feeding on a large figure. Glen reacted as the same time as Daryl and the both took out each walker.

"Oh no….T…" Glen sadly said looking down at all that was left of him. But Daryl wasn't looking, to the right of T-Dog's body lay Carol's head wrap; blood splattering the used to be pink head piece. Daryl slowly bent down to pick it up, blocking all of his surroundings out. He was almost afraid to touch it, hoping that perhaps it wasn't real, that this was all just a horrible nightmare. At that moment Daryl hated himself, as he turned over Carol's head wrap that he saw her wear earlier that day, he just couldn't help but think that he should've stayed with her. He should have stayed by her side—he had _promised_ her that he would protect from anything within this prison and now he didn't know where she was and didn't want to think about it either. He felt his heart skip a beat as it pounded into his chest, his stomach dropped, and immediately a new wave of emotions hit Daryl like a ton of bricks. He felt lost, Carol was lost, and he lost her. Feeling the soft delicate material which he kept turning over in his hand he couldn't help but think, he should've told Carol that she was the best friend he couldn't even dream of having, that he thought she looked pretty with this now blood stained head wrapped, hell that he thought she looked pretty all the time, that he liked to just watch her, he liked to look at her big clear innocent crystal blue eyes, that he always wanted to protect her and be around her, that he liked to simply just sit near her, that he was beginning to get jealous when other guys gave her attention because he felt insecure. All of these should haves and yet Daryl never did. He hated himself. He hated this world. He hated life. And now there was nothing left of her, no body to mourn over—although Daryl didn't even think that he could stomach it, but there was just fucking nothing of her left but her memories and her damn head wrap. Daryl shoved Carol's head piece into his back pocket, using his other arm to swipe away his nose and eyes—something that he was completely unaware of. He turned to find Glen looking him, he honestly looked sad too but Daryl didn't want his fucking pity.

"Daryl, I'm—" Suddenly they heard yelling going off in the courtyard. Both confused they ran towards the noise, Daryl felt a little leap in his heart, if the group was out there then maybe Carol was too; waiting for him to tell her all of his should haves. Daryl didn't want to get his hopes up, but he honest to God only hoped that Carol was out there too.

* * *

When they reached the source of the yelling, they weren't quite sure what was going on. Rick and Shane were beating the shit out of each other on the ground, rolling around—using their fists, knees, elbows, shoulders, feet, head butting, and hell even teeth. Carl and Beth were crying, in a blur, Daryl saw Glen immediately rush to Maggie who was crying while clutching a bloody baby. Hershel was yelling at the men, along with Carl and Beth for that matter, a baby was yelling, Axel and Oscar were trying to break the men up, and damn why is there a baby crying? But no Carol. Daryl's stomach dropped and his heart sunk to the very pit of his stomach; he felt nothing but numbness right now. _Oh shit the baby!_ Suddenly Daryl realized what was going on, turning all around he noticed that someone else was missing too; Lori. Daryl ran over to help Carl and Axel pull off of Shane while Glen and Oscar were holding a bruised, bloodying, panting, and snarling Shane.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU KEEP HER SAFE?! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE YOU WERE HERE! RIGHT HERE NEXT TO HER! GODDAMNIT!" Rick cried out to Shane, it was hard to make out what he was yelling because he was crying so hard.

"FUCK YOU MAN! I WAS FUCKIN' HERE! EXACTLY! KILLING THESE FUCKING ASSHOLES SO THAT THEY WOULDN'T GO AFTER 'EM! WHERE WERE YOU, HUH?! OUTSIDE JERKIN' OFF THE FUCKIN' PRISONER'S DICKS!" Shane finished the last part with an evil dark laugh.

"FUCK YOU!" Rick bellowed trying to reach Shane. Daryl was holding Rick by the arm and suddenly jumped back when he saw a bite mark on his arm, everyone else was completely unaware except for Beth.

"It was just Shane," She said through tears. "Rick was choking him and Shane really bit his arm."

"NAH MAN! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU A THOUSAND TIMES OVER! THAT'S MY FUCKING KID AND LORI WAS ALWAYS MINE!" Shane yelled to Rick, blood and spit coming out of his mouth in the process. He had one black eye which was completely swollen shut, while the other eye bored a cut on the brow, his nose was very obviously broken, he had claw marks on his neck, his mouth was bleeding, and his arms were littered with scrapes and bruises.

"YOU LOW LIFE PIECE OF SHIT! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT?! IN FRONT OF CARL NON-THE-LESS! YOU'RE NOT A MAN AND YOU ARE NO FATHER! THAT BABY IS MINE AND LORI IS MINE!" Daryl shot a little sideways glance when Rick said _is_ for Lori, but he understood. Rick also had a sealed shut black eye, with nail mark cuts on his face, arms, and neck. Both sides of his lips were cut, his nose was also broken, the top of his forehead was purple from bruises and the top of his head must have been cut from Shane head butting him because he had blood dripping down his face, and there even seemed to be blood pouring out of his ears. But Shane looked worst, Rick may have had a rougher beating, but with blood coming out of Shane's mouth and dripping down his throat, the holes in his shirt and pants, his was so red it was almost purple, his body all coiled and tensed up, and with his bloodshot eyes; he looked like somebody Daryl would shoot down in a heartbeat because he looked like a fucking rabid dog.

"You guys, this isn't solving anything!" Maggie cried out, slowly walking between the two of them, Glen and Hershel following closely behind. Rick completely ignored this, he picked up a nearby axe and then headed in the direction where Maggie came from; spitting at Shane's feet, getting more blood then salvia on his filthy boots. When looking at the baby, Shane slowly but surely relaxed and advanced towards the baby.

"She uh….she healthy?" Shane timidly asked Hershel. Daryl had never seen Hershel look at anyone like he was at Shane, it was plainly written on his face that he hated the man; he looked at him in utter disgust.

"Let me see that baby," Hershel said to Maggie. Still crying, Maggie passed the baby onto her father, turning in Glen's arms as Beth held onto her father's elbow. "Good news is that she's looks healthy, but she needs formula, fast."

"Nope! No way! We ain't losin' nobody else," Daryl hurriedly said. He felt his heart collapsing, Carol had not come running out of the prison. He was sweating; he needed fresh air although he was already outside. He needed to escape the prison and all of its dark memories. He'd deal with Shane's pyscho ass later, but right now he wasn't too worried, if Shane tried anything with him, Daryl would shoot him dead where he stood; none of this wasting time fist brawl bullshit. "I'm goin' on a run!"

"I'll go with you," Maggie strongly said.

"Me too," Glen immediately said right after.

"Alright, you two figure out where we gotta go. Beth—Carl ain't lookin' too hot, his ma just died, his dad is off, and ya know fucking Shane is crazy. Keep an eye on him." Daryl said in a whisper.

"Of course." Beth vigorously nodded.

"Alright," glancing around once again in hope to find Carol come out only to spot nothing of her, Daryl felt his chest tighten and heart clench again, the familiar feeling of his throat closing up returning.

"Glen, Maggie, vamanos!" Daryl said in a hoarse voice. "Come on! We gonna lose the light!" Daryl yelled out again, making a run for his bike. He just couldn't deal with anything right now, when he wasn't feeling numb a few minutes ago during Rick and Shane's outburst, he felt dead, or at least he wanted to be—because when you're dead you don't feel anything at all. He just couldn't stand to be in the prison right now, not if Carol couldn't be there to immediately calm him down like she'll usually do.

"There's a day care nearby, I was keeping an eye out for Lori, but the road is crowded—the car won't fit." Maggie said. Already straddling his bike, Daryl just nodded.

"I can only take of ya," Daryl said, really not caring about anything else right now but getting that formula for the baby. Carol was always around Lori—when they were getting along. She would talk and talk about how adorable babies are, how newborns are the greatest thing in the world, especially if they're healthy, Carol couldn't wait for this baby to live; and although he didn't want it to be his last vow to Carol, he vowed that he wouldn't fail her on this—he could help that baby live.

"I'll go," Glen said.

"No, I'll go. I have to go, for Lori." Maggie resolutely said, kissing Glen goodbye. "Oh and Glen, keep an eye on things." She added worriedly.

"Glen! Ya do what you gotta do to that son of a bitch if ya gotta. Don't let nothin' happen to nobody, especially not that baby." Daryl firmly called out to Glen.

"Yeah," was all Glen said before Daryl sped his way down with Maggie riding behind him.

* * *

They were driving for about an hour or so, Maggie would only talk when she told him which way to go, and Daryl's only response would be when he made that turn. They eventually reached a road block, Daryl slowed down and got off his bike, intending on moving the obstacle out his way. Maggie came over to help him.

"Was she bit?" It was the first thing that Daryl had been able to say, his throat no longer feeling as closed up.

"No. I had to give her a C-section, she didn't make it. Carl shot her." Maggie said in a small voice. Daryl just shook his head. Fuck this world. Poor fucking Carl, poor fucking everybody. As Daryl headed back for his bike, something large and white with a yellow middle caught his attention. Off of the road, there was a line of Cherokee rose bushes. The feeling of sinking and suffocation returning to Daryl as he dropped to his knees and before he could control himself, he began to cry. With shaking hands, he reached out and pulled a Cherokee rose, gently placing it in the inside of chest pocket—closest to his heart.

"Oh God Daryl, I'm so sorry about Carol," Maggie gently said, putting a hand on his back. With shaking legs, Daryl stood up. He had to gasp for air in order to catch his breath. His heart was beating so damn hard, he thought it was going to pop like a balloon in his chest, his chest felt so damn tight as if it was being smashed together by steel, with him breathing so hard and his lungs taking such deep inhales—his ribs and core began to ache again as if they were slowly burning, his eyes were burning, his nose was running, his throat hurt from choking and gasping for air, and yet he still felt numb—hopeless. Whipping away at his snot and tears, Daryl turned to Maggie.

"She had so much hope for the baby," an emotion that Daryl never felt before erupted in him. It was evident in his voice; he mounted his bike with a purpose and started it up, Maggie followed suit. He would not fail Carol and her wishes, he would not fail this baby; and with a new sense of fierce determination, the pair headed towards the child day care.


	8. Chapter 8

**So sorry for the delay! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Daryl awoke with a start on his perch. He didn't want to believe all the events that he was replying in his head from the day before. The day started off same as any other day; they were making their surroundings secure for their group. The inmates, walkers, T-Dog, Lori, the baby was born, fucking Shane's crazy ass, he and Rick finally having it out, and Carol. _Oh God Carol._ Daryl felt the familiar fall in the pit of stomach. He's heard that you can't actually die from a broken heart, because your heart simply doesn't just collapse because someone you knew died. But then why did Daryl feel like it was so hard for him to breathe? He had to momentarily remind himself to inhale and exhale, the pain that he felt was unlike any physical beating he's ever had to endure. Carol was his best friend, they were connected and Daryl had never felt that way before with any other human being. They could speak without speaking, they could comfort each other without touching, they would do whatever it took to protect each other, try to uplift each other's spirits when they were feeling down; Daryl came to the realization that he may of have loved Carol. The realization hit Daryl like a ton of bricks and he suddenly didn't want to live without Carol. Even though he knew he would never be good enough for Carol, he loved her, and if she needed him as a best friend to support her through anything, he would. Once Daryl loved someone, he would love that person until the day he died. He didn't want to move, it hurt to think about Carol being gone, without him even being there. He just hoped that she wasn't scared, he hoped that she was still somewhere amongst the tombs—just wondering about, waiting for him. But Daryl had never had such luck—but despite that, he still couldn't help but to hope.

The sun started to rise and Daryl hated the day already. He felt completely numb, Carol was gone, and so he felt like his spirit had left with her. Suddenly the baby's cries rang out, alerting everyone that she was hungry. Daryl had made a successful run the previous day with Maggie, bringing them back enough formula and a toy to last a while. Daryl immediately went to the cries of the baby and without even thinking, he gently picked her up and fed her. He got the formula for the baby, he wanted to feed her, make sure he'd do a job that would have made Carol proud. But then when Carl started suggesting names for the little girl, Daryl flinched and almost couldn't bear it when he mentioned Sophia and Carol. Daryl resolved on Little Asskicker because that is exactly what she would be in this world; she would survive, Daryl would use all of his power to make sure of it. The sun was creeping in and Daryl began to hear movement, he didn't want to deal with anyone right now. He just needed to think; go hunting in the forest to find peace and while patting the Cherokee rose that lay in his breast pocket, he had to say goodbye to Carol.

Daryl made his way out in the field with the heating sun rising behind him, as if to mock his idea of hope. He only had one grave that he was headed to, only one thing that had all of his attention. Daryl hated the idea that they couldn't even pay respects to Carol's actual body but this somehow worked out because Daryl didn't even think he could imagine handling seeing Carol's corpse. Daryl stopped as he got closer, the tightening in his chest got harder as it became harder to breathe, he felt that heavy rock in his throat, as if his own heart couldn't bring him justice to the pain, the rock in his throat would surely help him cry. Daryl reached for his breast pocket and pulled out the Cherokee rose that he picked on the run that he and Maggie went on. Daryl collapsed to his knees as the pain inside of him was becoming more and more unbearable, he couldn't imagine going on without Carol by his side, but more importantly, he was so sorry that he couldn't be there and save Carol. Daryl smoothed the rose over, trying to make it as perfect as he could before laying it down on Carol's grave. He lovingly placed it in the very center of the rock –shaped C which represented Carol. Daryl was very gentle as he was soothing over the dirt which lay around Carol's grave, fixing it so that nothing looked messy while softly fixing the sand around the Cherokee rose and her first initial. He then moved his right hand and lightly placed it on Carol's cross; stroking the wood, wishing that he could hold Carol at least one last time. _I'm so fucking sorry I wasn't there for ya Carol. I love you with everything I have in me._ Daryl had never felt so hurt, so pained, so distraught, so numb; he could feel the tears begin to form and he began to vigorously bite on his lower lip, he couldn't lose it—not now. But as the sun raised higher up, Daryl rose too. He had to hunt, provide for the remaining family that he had left, he had to take out his anger on anything that crossed his path. Daryl turned to leave but couldn't quite bring himself to turn away from Carol; with an already broken heart Daryl turned around again. He hated saying goodbyes, and he never wanted to say goodbye to Carol. Daryl had to tear himself away from this and head for the forest; he hated saying goodbyes and he could only hope that he actually wasn't. Maybe at least he could find her body—although he was terrified of what he was going to find. All Daryl had left was hope and that was exactly what the Cherokee rose represented.

* * *

It was later on in the day as Daryl, Carl, and Oscar were in search of clearing out the rest of the cell block. Crazy ass Shane was hovering all over Lil' Asskicker along with Hershel and Beth, while the others were wondering about doing their own business, Glen and Maggie were out on a supply run—specifically for the baby, and Rick was still doing God-knows-what. Daryl was really nervous about his best friend, Rick was Daryl's brother that he always wished he had growing up; they were always on the same page and always had each other's back. But since Lori died Rick had been off in his own world, completely abandoning the group and his children in the process. Daryl felt really sore for Carl, even offering him is his own story of how he lost his mom. They eventually made their way deep into the tombs, momentarily stopping when Oscar found something that he thought he needed.

"Ooooo yeah, now that's what I'm talking about! Yeah buddy," Oscar said leaning over while grabbing a pair of blue fuzzy slippers.

"The hell ya need slippers for?" Daryl asked in disbelief.

"Ya know, at the end of the day. Relaxin'!" Oscar said back with dignity. Daryl just snorted, but that died short as they all heard a growl come up from behind. With everyone simultaneously turning around, they all shot at the walker that very close to them, completely catching them off guard; it was over kill to say the least.

"Phew, all right!" Daryl said while still panting from the latest scare. He moved his flashlight from over the body to knife handle which was sticking out of his lower jaw. Daryl's heart immediately stopped, he'd recognize that knife anywhere, he'd gotten himself on a run during their harsh winter months.

"He must've been from the cell at the end, we checked everywhere else," Oscar offered. Daryl bent down and began to slowly pull the knife out from the walker. He couldn't believe this is what he was seeing.

"It's Carol's knife," Daryl said in soft disbelief. Daryl was frozen, with the knife still in his hands, he looked at the walker—the last thing to have spotted _his_ Carol, but there was also the issue of him actually holding Carol's knife and what that meant. Daryl knew that Carol would have done everything in her power to have stopped T-Dog sacrificing himself to the two walkers that ended up eating him alive. Which means that this knife was her last result to fighting her way out of these tombs, yet here it was in Daryl's hands; Daryl was completely stuck and stayed completely frozen where he was. This knife brought both hope and fear, Carol _did _in fact last longer then he thought, but where was she now?

"Daryl? You okay?" Carl asked. Daryl didn't respond, he didn't know how to. No, he wasn't okay, it was a stupid fucking question but he didn't feel like snapping at the kid for just being concerned about him. A million different scenarios were running through Daryl's mind and each one was getting worst and worst.

"Come on, Daryl will meet us later back in our cell block," Carl said to Oscar. Daryl appreciated some peace to think. After what seemed like forever, Daryl finally slowly rose and headed for the last cell door that they decided to abandon earlier.

* * *

Carol had never felt more scared or more exhausted, not even all of Ed's beatings could be compared to this. She was famished, thirsty, tired, all of her muscles were so sore and tight that it seemed to even have affected her bones. All she did was run for an entire day straight and throughout the night. Earlier in the day a man twice the size of Carol got the jump on her, with all of her might she shoved the knife that Daryl gave to her into the walker's jaw—hoping to reach his brain. Carol wished that she had Daryl with her in that moment, not that he was close to dying besides her, but she desired his company. He made her feel happy and safe, something that was completely foreign to her given her previous life and something that didn't know that she could feel when the end of world happened. Carol began to wheeze as she was gasping for breath, she made her way into the closest cell and shut the door. She felt herself fading out, and she only hoped that somebody would come.

* * *

Shane had been hovering inside the prison all day, always around the baby. He hated that Daryl had the audacity to come in and be the first one to feed his daughter, fucking redneck prick. Shane just snickered as he made his way slowly down the stairs—still really sore from Rick's beating; he'd get his all right. Shane winced as he took his final step to down to the main floor of the cell block; he'd been sleeping most of the day and hadn't eaten anything since yesterday when the prison got overrun. Shane was utterly depressed about Lori dying and Carol had to leave him too. He was beginning to feel something for Carol, he figured he could get anything that Lori refused to offer him. But in the end, Lori was Shane's woman, and the baby was his daughter. But Shane was a fighter and he would continue on for the sake of his daughter while making sure that Rick had no say about her. Lori was _his_ and his daughter was _his_, and whatever asshole had something different to say wasn't going to live to say another word. Shane reached Beth's and Hershel's cell—where the baby was momentarily staying at, and he leaned against the door.

"Hey," Beth offered softly while leaning over and fussing with his daughter. Shane smiled and nodded back, casting a glance over to Hershel who didn't even acknowledge his presence.

"How's my little girl doin' today? Ya feed her? Sorry I slept in," Shane said back. Noticing that both Beth and Hershel momentarily stopped what they were doing, freezing for a second before continuing on.

"Yes Shane. You should get something to eat. Your rations are still left over," Beth said not looking up.

"Yeah, I'll get to that. Letme see my daughter already," Shane laughed while walking over to where Beth stood. Hershel got up from the bed he was sitting on and stood close to Beth while Beth went completely rigid, Shane was a little confused as to why they were acting this why around him but he was too tired to think too much into it.

"Come on now," Shane said, holding his arms out. Beth looked over at her father who gave a slight nod. Beth gently placed the baby into his arms. Shane carefully held the sleeping baby close to his chest, completely securing her. He started to gently rock, trying to urge the baby to wake up. Finally, she gave way, opening her eyes to reveal Shane's brown eyes looking back at him.

"Ha! Look at her, she looks just like me and her mama," Shane softly said, leaning down to smell the new born baby's head.

"Son," Hershel began. "Why don't you go eat? You look dead on your feet." The mention of food made Shane's stomach growl loudly.

"Yeah, I reckon I can manage that. Might find Carl while I'm it, letting him know his old man is finally takin' care of himself," Shane while carefully placing the sleeping baby into her crib then turning and headed for the exit.

"I'll be back again to make sure ya'll ain't forgetting to feed her and change her, I ain't gonna let my daughter get forgotten."

"Shane," Hershel sharply said. "None of us would mistreat Rick's daughter." Shane stood completely still and fixed his eyes on the old man. _He had some balls. Hell, he's probably just fucking with me. Fucking Rick was no man and he couldn't even protect his own._ With a growl, Shane turned to leave, headed to find Carl.

* * *

Glen and Maggie made their way up to a nearby store; they were on a run for supplies for the group even though their main concern was for the baby. The weather was clear, it wasn't too hot outside, there weren't any walkers around, and Maggie simply thought that today was going to go smoothly. She looked over at the man she loved, Glen was smart, funny, handsome, and was always there for her. Walking over, she kissed Glen, when she pulled back she noticed that he looked a little shocked but quickly recovered to looking happy; causing him to lean in again and kiss her more deeply.

"It's a beautiful day," Maggie said. Glen simply smiled and reached for the bolt cutters so that they could break into the store to retrieve their supplies. It happened too fast for them to even realize, it was quick movement of blurry black flying over them—bats. They both recovered for their scare and started to laugh.

"Glen, get that duck," Maggie while pointing to the toy duck for the baby.

"What?" Glen asked.

"The duck, get it." Glen flashed his flashlight over as he and Maggie made their way into the store to get all that they could. After finishing what they believed to be a successful haul, they made their way back to their car, talking about heading back to the prison.

"Holy shit!" A man gasped behind the pair. Maggie and Glen quickly turned around with their guns raised, ready to defend themselves. The man was wearing a stained wife beater, had a broken nose, his right arm below the elbow was a self-made prosthetic with a knife at the end, and his left hand was holding a gun which wasn't exactly pointed at the pair.

"Merle?" Glen asked in disbelief, causing Maggie to quickly look toward him in confusion.

"You're still alive! Tell me, is my brother still alive?" Merle asked hopefully, putting both hands up to show that he didn't intend to hurt them. Glen hesitated, he didn't know how much they could trust Merle Dixon and he didn't know what to tell him; but Daryl and were Merle were brothers.

"Yeah."

"All right! Okay, I'll tell ya what," Merle said while lowering his gun, "You take me to my brother, all bets are off. I promise not to hurt ya, trust me."

"No, you trust us! You stay here; we'll go back and bring Daryl to you." Glen snapped back, he didn't like the feel of this, he just couldn't trust Merle Dixon. Merle was getting agitated, his baby brother was with this group and he had to see him, one way or another. Merle just chuckled to himself, "Alright…" Before either of the two knew it, Merle produced another gun from the back of his waistband, shooting it at the glass behind Maggie and Glen—causing them to quickly separate while covering themselves. Merle ran and tackled Maggie to the floor, pointing the gun at her head letting her know that he meant business.

"Let go of her! LET GO OF HER!" Glen roared to Merle, pointing his gun at the man's head which was way too close to Maggie's.

"Not uh, now we're gonna go on back to my place, see if we can get any answers there. DRIVE THE CAR GLEN!" Merle shouted, gripping Maggie even tighter but not too tight to the point where he was hurting her. In frustration Glen made his way around the truck, slamming the back door shut on his way and started up the car; hoping to figure out a way to get Maggie out of this mess, wherever it was that they were going.

* * *

Rick was making his way back to the cell block, back to his family. All throughout the day he thought he was walking to the past members of his group, Jacquie, Jim, Amy, and Lori. Rick completely broke down and couldn't help but apologize to Lori and tell her how much she meant to him. But he felt better compared to how he was earlier, a little lighter; he knew that he would have to be there for his family and for the group so that was exactly what he was going to do. As he entered the cell block he only saw Carl, Beth, Hershel, Axel, Oscar, and the baby. Thank God he didn't see Shane right now, they've been completely avoiding each other since yesterday, and Rick knew that he wanted the man dead but he didn't know how to get around to it. It honestly pained Rick to think about, Shane was like his brother growing up, they've been best friends since middle school and eventually became partners together in the work force. He knew that Shane was good deep down inside, or he at least wanted to believe it; but something snapped in Shane as it did for Rick and whatever kind of bond that they had together was broken. Beth stood as Rick got near, holding the baby, Carl looked up from where he was sitting. Rick smiled down at him and clapped his shoulder; he loved his family and would do all that he could to protect the group. As Rick reached for the baby and held her securely close to him, he began to cry. This was his and Lori's baby, no matter if Shane had some kind of input. Lori was his wife and this was his family, the baby girl was absolutely perfect and already looked so much like Lori. Rick kissed his daughters forehead, feeling so much lighter then how he felt earlier; looking around he knew his purpose and what he had to do for the group.

* * *

_Fuck hope. Fuck love. Fuck life. Fuck it all. Fuck Carol for doing this to me and while I'm at it, fuck myself! Why couldn't I have been there for here?! She was everything I ever wanted. Goddamnt I fucking hear ya, Carol!_ Daryl sat completely crushed on the floor, hunched over driving Carol's knife harder and harder into the floor. He had never felt so lost; so broken. Not even with his mom dying, his father leaving, and with having to leave Merle behind. _Please God I don't want to put the woman I love down._ Daryl felt himself begin to cry, his chest was tight, his lungs were pumping hard even though he was sitting down, his blood was boiling, his body was basically shaking with anger, and yet, he still felt as though his heart was going through a never ending stage of collapsing then instinctively bringing itself back to life before it would collapse all over again. _ Please fucking stop hitting the door! _With a final two bangs on the wall with Carol's knife, Daryl shot up from his position and kicked the door. He knew that a walker-Carol was most likely in there waiting for him. Daryl began to sweat as the halls grew smaller and hotter, he began to pace weighing his options; he could always just give himself up to Carol, simply quench her thirst and then join her and Sophia in heaven. No, Carol would never want that fate for Daryl and Daryl honestly thought he was too much of a pussy to let himself get eaten alive. As bad as it sounded, Daryl would have sacrificed anyone else in the world if it meant not having to lose Carol, but if it was really a walker-Carol in that cell, consistently banging against the door, asking for an escape, then he knew the right thing to do would be to put her out of her misery. He was doing this because Carol hated the idea of that monster taking over her little girl's body, so for Carol, he would take the monster away from Carol. _For Carol; _were Daryl's last thoughts before he put Carol's knife in his mouth, dragging the dead asshole away from the door, and throwing the door open.

Daryl had his right arm above his head, ready to slam it into the corpse of Carol's head—quick and painless, on both ends. Only there was no stench, there was no walker which was ready to attach itself and eat Daryl as he stood. Daryl slowly looked down in disbelief; there sitting exhausted on the floor sat Carol. Daryl's heart beat began to pick up, it felt as though tight knots were being pulled in his stomach, his heart was beating so fast he thought it would just explode out of his chest from happiness. This couldn't be real, great things like this didn't happen to Dixons, they never got second chances. Carol slowly looked up and Daryl's breath completely went away, although she looked exhausted with pale skin, dark bags under her eyes, clothes torn, and with blood splattered all over her; her bright blue eyes were staring up into Daryl's soul; _she had saved him_. Daryl had never thought that Carol looked more beautiful than in this moment, but it ended far too quickly for Daryl's likings as Carol sighed and looked down. Daryl gently stooped down and lifted Carol's chin with his hand, he had to touch her, he had to make sure that she was real and that this moment was real.

"Carol…" Daryl softly whispered in soft disbelief. He was rewarded when Carol looked up again, meeting his eyes while softly smiling, only the very corners of her mouth lifting ever so slightly.

"Dar….oh…" Carol said in such a low voice that if Daryl's full attention wasn't on her, he probably wouldn't of have heard her. Daryl had never felt so relieved in his life, he was so happy that he found Carol alive.

"Carol…ya ain't bit or scratched? Nothin'? Please tell me ya ain't hurt," Daryl softly said, while gently placing both of his hands on either side of her face, moving his hands down to her arms, legs, slightly raising her shirt to check.

"N….no.." Carol weakly responded.

"Alright," Daryl said while quickly putting the knife away along with shouldering his crossbow. "Alright, Imma getcha outta here, Carol. You're gonna be just fine," Daryl softly said while securely circling his arms around Carol. Daryl stood with Carol, not liking how light she felt in his arms, and began to make his way out of these god forsaken tombs.

"Daryl…" Carol softly said while her head was resting on Daryl's shoulder.

"Shh...I gotcha sweetheart," Daryl responded back. He didn't want Carol to worry, if any walkers or if anything that came in the form of a threat crossed his path, he would not hesitate to kill it. He wanted Carol to feel secure and safe with him and now that he had her again, he wasn't going to risk anything happening.

* * *

Daryl finally reached the cell block, hurriedly running to the closest cell. He gently laid Carol down, fixing the pillow behind her head; she was still knocked out but Daryl studied the rise and fall of her chest, she was at least breathing. Daryl ran to get some water; he couldn't believe that Carol was still alive. He had never felt so happy or relieved before. When he ran back into the cell Carol was starting to stir, Daryl quickly went over and knelt besides her—keeping eye level Carol so that she didn't have to strain herself too much.

"Hey, it's okay, don't move too much," Daryl gently said to Carol. She slightly turned, facing Daryl. Daryl wasn't sure where the others were but he was happy to have gotten this kind of privacy with Carol.

"Here," Daryl said, placing one hand behind her head to support her head while he gave her little sips of water from the water bottle. Carol drank some water and began pucker her lips together causing Daryl to quickly run out to Beth's cell and look for some chap stick; running back to Carol he gently applied some onto her lips. Daryl lightly placed his hand on the right side of Carol's face, rubbing this thumb over her lower lip. It was an unconscious act because he was completely transfixed, Carol was beyond beautiful and Daryl was so ecstatic to have Carol here with him. While still lightly rubbing Carol's cheek, Daryl moved his eyes upwards, finding Carol's beautiful blue eyes looking back at him. Daryl tensed at first because he didn't think that she was aware of what was happening; but he soon began to wonder if Carol was feeling the same thing that he was feeling for her.

"Here," Daryl said again to Carol, giving her more water. "Imma find ya some salty crackers, don't go nowhere," he joked to her. When Daryl made his way back to Carol he saw that she was partly sitting up, leaning on her elbows, and drinking more water. Daryl went and kneeled by her again, breaking off bits of the cracker while taking her water away. He poured a little of the water on his red rag that he always kept in his back packet, he then leaned over and began to gently rub away at the dried blood on Carol's face, neck, chest, and arms. Daryl could hear Carol slowly munching on the crackers but at least it was something.

"Ya definitely ain't bit or scratched?" Daryl asked again looking up towards her, only receiving a shake of Carol's head. Daryl just nodded his head, looking down pouring some more water on his rag. Without looking at Carol, Daryl grasped the hand which laid closer to him, Carol's right hand was stiff and bloody; Daryl began to massage it and straighten it out as much as he could , reaching down to grab his rag again he began to wipe the blood off as best he could with only cloth and water. Daryl was studying Carol's hand, noticing dirt and blood under finger nails before using his own to remove it. The crunching of Carol's crackers were almost deafening, Daryl had gone through a roller coaster of emotions just thinking about Carol these past two days and here she was, here he was holding her hand and lovingly cleaning her arm.

"Carol, I'm so….I'm so fuckin' sorry. I shoulda been searchin' for ya, but so much happened—" Carol suddenly pulled her arm free for Daryl, he looked up questionably. Carol looked stronger already, although she was still tired, she looked determined. Carol reached out a hand and placed it on Daryl's face, stroking his face. Daryl sighed out in relief, closing his eyes while leaning into her touch; he moved his face so that Carol would be able to touch him at a better angle, cupping his face more fully. He closed his eyes and lightly placed his hand over Carol's hand. Carol then quickly let go of his face which caused Daryl to look up in shock, was he too rough? Was his grasp too hard? Was her wrist broken? Carol readjusted herself so that her legs were hanging off the lower bunk, she moved her legs on either side of Daryl's still kneeling body, and she was then leaning towards Daryl and moved her arms around his shoulders.

"Thank you," Carol softly said and that was all it took to make Daryl collapse in Carol's arms. He swiftly grabbed Carol's middle, resting his head on her breasts, feeling Carol's head leaning on top of his while one of her hands was stroking through Daryl's hair and massaging his scalp. Daryl wasn't sure how long they were hugging like this for and Daryl didn't care either, he felt all of his fears, problems, and worries quickly fade out and disappear from his head as he was holding Carol. But it wasn't until later when he felt drops of water and he realized that his head, face, and shoulders were getting wet. He gently pulled away and looked up to see Carol smiling, crying too, but genuinely smiling and it nearly tore his heart away. Daryl felt as though his heart finally gave way and burst inside him, Carol meant everything to him and he knew what it was like to lose that. While Daryl thought she was gone, he just kept thinking about everything he should have told her, how much she meant to him, and even though he knew she could never love him the same way that he loved her, he had to at least tell her—he could work with the rest.

"Carol, I love y—"

"What's goin' on?" Daryl heard Shane call out from the stairs, making his way down to the open cell block. Daryl quickly pulled away and made to guard Carol's door, partly because he wasn't sure if she wanted anyone to see her right now, partly because he didn't want Shane to be anywhere near Carol, and mainly because he wanted Carol all to himself at that moment.

"Shane," Daryl snarled, warning him not to get near. Shane completely ignored this and with an unbuttoned tee-shirt, revealing hard muscles along with scratches and bruises, he wobbled his way over to Carol, pushing Daryl off to the side in the process; Daryl growled as he made his way towards Carol.

"Oh my God, Carol?!" Shane said, laughing loudly. Carol looked completely confused as she looked from Shane to Daryl, and Daryl knew it was because she was probably still a little disorientated. Shane looked terrible, it wasn't because of his obvious injuries but his eyes were bright red as if he were crying blood and the dark bags under his eyes were such a contrast that it made anyone flinch away from Shane from first seeing him.

"Shane maybe not right now," Daryl rudely suggested to him, making a grab for his arm but he wasn't fast enough. In the blink of an eye Shane was swooping down lifting Carol off the bed in a tight bear hug. Daryl was immediately stabbed with jealousy, he could never openly just hold Carol like that, he could never make the moves—it was a miracle what had just happened not five minutes ago.

"Oh my God! Ya made it!" Shane said still talking very loudly. He had Carol's head shoved into his chest and Daryl wouldn't have been surprised if Carol was having a hard time to breathe.

"Shane, let up some," Daryl snarled, grabbing at Shane's arm again. Shane pulled away, turning his head a little bit as if sizing Carol up, Daryl absolutely hated the way that he was looking at her. Carol was completely flustered, forcing a laugh while placing a hand on Shane's chest trying to put some distance between the two. Shane closed his eyes and blindly reached his hand out, holding the back of Carol's neck while his thumb rested on her jaw.

"Shane," Daryl warningly snapped.

"Oh, Lori…" Shane whispered so softly Daryl almost didn't catch it. With his eyes still closed, Shane wrapped up Carol in his arms again, tightly crushing her to his body, causing a sharp gasp followed by a wince from Carol.

"SHANE, BACK THE HELL OFF!" Daryl's blood was boiling now and his body was shaking as he grabbed the back of Shane's shirt, hearing it rip, and shoving his body into the cell door. Shane winced out in pain and looked furious. Daryl quickly moved to stand in front of Carol; no harm would ever come to her again if he could help it. "The fuck are ya doing?!" Daryl yelled to Shane, pushing him back with his puffed out chest.

"I—" Shane looked completely unaware about what had just happened and without another word; he turned and left out of the cell; most likely to go sleep some more. Daryl turned around to see Carol sitting on her bed again, looking down and reaching for the water. Daryl quickly made his way over and gave the water bottle to Carol. Suddenly Daryl heard Rick's voice booming from dining part of the block, followed by an unfamiliar female voice talking back. Daryl stood up in alarm, hand reaching for his buck knife.

"Go on and lay back down, it's Rick and the others, I'll go on and check what's goin' on," Daryl softly said to Carol. Before Daryl could make his way to leave the cell he felt Carol's soft hand wrap itself around Daryl's. Daryl snapped his head to look down, seeing Carol smiling while looking up at him.

"Thank you, Daryl," Carol softly said before letting go of his hand and closing her eyes to rest, smile still on her face. Without even thinking, Daryl bent down and softly kissed her temple, it was a quick and light peck but Daryl had never been so bold before.

"Always, Carol," Daryl whispered to her before leaving her cell and checking on the others.


End file.
